


Flaws In The System

by NeonNitrogen



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Attempt at Humor, I'll add when necessary, M/M, Maybe fluff, Mild Sexual Content, Minor Violence, i dunno really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2018-05-04 14:37:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5337770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeonNitrogen/pseuds/NeonNitrogen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jihoon had always known that the idea of Soulmates was flawed.</p><p>Alternatively: What's a boy to do when his Soulmate already has one?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jihoon

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! Here I am, starting another fanfic, once again, not for my main ship... I dunno what I'm doing with my life. But this idea hit me and I was like. Welp. Plus I'm super interested in Soulmate AUs so of course I gotta contribute.

Jihoon opened his closet door, tired expression prominent on his face. So far, it’s been a normal Tuesday morning. Jihoon had almost slept through his alarm since he was up late—yet again—to finish a project for his music composition class. It was more like perfect it though, since he had actually ‘finished’ the thing a week ago. But there was something about it that wasn't clicking in Jihoon’s mind, so he wouldn't rest until he was completely satisfied. Because of this, he had ended up submitting it with only 10 minutes to spare before the midnight due date.

Jihoon pulled out the first suitable shirt he found and threw it onto his bed. He repeated the process with some jeans and boxers he found in his dresser drawers. Jihoon then walked to his attached bathroom and started the shower so it would be hot by the time he was ready to step in.

He reached for his toothbrush and tried to squirt the small remains of toothpaste from the tube onto his toothbrush. Unfortunately, it decided that Jihoon hadn’t had enough excitement for his morning just yet. Instead of it landing on the brush like he had hoped, it shot out and landed on his exposed upper stomach.

Jihoon was happy in moments like this that he slept shirtless. With a small sigh, he scooped off the toothpaste from his abdomen with his toothbrush and proceeded to brush his teeth like nothing had just happened.

After rinsing out his mouth, he gave himself a good once over in the mirror. He poked a little at his skinny stomach and made a mental note to actually eat lunch today.

Right when he was about to head over to his shower, he stopped mid-turn to take a closer look at the birthmark he had at the junction where his torso and shoulder met. To call it a birthmark might have been the wrong term to use though since it had appeared on his 18th birthday.

Maybe tattoo was a better term, for it was actually a very complex design. It was about 3 inches long through its diameter and hexagonal in shape, but the inside looked like a maze. He actually tried to solve it once, but was ultimately moot in point since there was actually no start or end points.

Everyone on this earth got their 'Soulmark' on their 18th birthday, in a seemingly random spot on your body. When his birthday had rolled around and his Soulmark appeared in an inconspicuous spot, Jihoon had let out a deep sigh and thanked his lucky stars that it hadn’t appeared on his face like some unfortunate souls.

Everyone’s was hexagonal in shape, but the inner workings were unique to just you and your Soulmate. No matter how many times Jihoon had stared at it over the 2 years that he had his, he still hadn't memorized the design. It was so complex, he doubted anyone could actually sit down and draw theirs from just memory.

Whatever higher being that was up there that created such things as Soulmates and Soulmarks must have realized the problem that was created with having such complex designs to indicate who was your Soulmate, since it would be nearly impossible to realize that someone had the same design as you without sitting down and scrutinizing each other's Soulmarks.

Apparently, to compensate for the fact that no one could actually identify their Soulmate at first glance, when you touched your Soulmate for the first time, it felt like flowers and sunshine, or some equality over fluffy shit. Jihoon’s own mother tried to explain to him what it felt like once, but from the mix of confusion and frustration on her son’s face, she decided to end her explanation with a sigh and, "You'll just know when you feel it for yourself."

Jihoon poked his Soulmark like he had his stomach before gliding his finger down it. It was smooth to his skin, with no raised lines. It would have been impossible to know it was there if you couldn't actually look at it.

And not for the first time, Jihoon contemplated what his Soulmate would be like. In this day in age, it was almost impossible to not be able to find your Soulmate, thanks to the internet.

If you hadn't already found your Soulmate, you could just post a picture of your Soulmark to 'FindYourSoulmate.com', and with the same technology used for finger prints, it would lead you straight to your Soulmate if they had also posted up their Soulmark. But that was only if you could afford to do so; the website wasn't cheap.

Jihoon doubted he would find his without actually using the program, but for now, he was just waiting. It wasn't like he was in any rush, let alone the fact he still didn't fully buy into the Soulmate hype. It was almost impossible in Jihoon’s mind for there to be a person out there that would be _absolutely perfect_ for him. The idea almost always made Jihoon roll his eyes.

But a quick glance at his phone showed he really didn't have the time to contemplate everything that could go wrong with the idea of Soulmates at present, so he shoved off his remaining clothes and finally took his shower.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jihoon hoisted his backpack strap a little higher onto his shoulder, having slid down a bit along his walk. He was following his usual route to his first class of the day, whistling his finished project lowly as he made his way.

The usual hustle and bustle was happening around him as he casually made his way to class. A girl easily longboarded past him and a guy jogged in the opposite direction of Jihoon, who was probably late for class. What really caught Jihoon’s attention was the boy’s Soulmark, which sat prominently on his cheek.

Lots of people had their Soulmarks in places that were easy to see, but the thing about this kid’s Soulmark that had caught Jihoon’s attention was the long black jagged slash that cut straight through it, completely marring the original design that had laid there.

A small feeling that could have been interpreted as pity raised in Jihoon’s chest. You didn't see many of those around his college. They were much more abundant in retirement homes since it indicated that your Soulmate had died.

The clogged up feeling receded after Jihoon reasoned that the kid had probably come to terms with the fact if he was wearing said fact so proudly, without a hint of makeup to cover it up.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jihoon plopped down into his seat, startling one Hong Jisoo as he did so. Ignoring the slight yelp that came out of his friend’s mouth, Jihoon slid his backpack onto his desk and pulled out his folder he had designated for music composition class.

"You scared me, just so you know," said Jisoo matter of factly.

"Yeah, I could tell by your squeal," said Jihoon casually back.

He knew he was over exaggerating, but he only did it because he knew it would get a rise out of Jisoo.

Jisoo huffed, letting air puff out his cheeks. Jihoon would have admitted that it made Jisoo look cute if he was any lesser of a person. But what he did do was raise a questioning eyebrow at Jisoo’s reaction. He had expected at least a little bit of a fight. It must have meant something was on Jisoo’s mind and didn't want to wait till after they would finish their fake fight to bring it up.

Almost immediately after Jihoon finished his thought, he heard Jisoo speak up, "So have you heard about the new fad that was going around when it comes to your Soulmark?"

Before Jihoon could reply, the teacher decided to walk in and start class. But like hell was Jisoo going to let class get in the way of him talking about Soulmates.

Jisoo was one of those fanatics that were obsessed with the idea of Soulmates. Jihoon wouldn't have been surprised to hear that Jisoo already had his Soulmark up, pending out in the vastness that was the internet, just waiting for his Soulmate to also post theirs.

Lowly, Jisoo continued on with what he was going to say without Jihoon either confirming nor denying if he had heard about said new fad.

"Apparently, what some people are doing is getting tattoos to black out their Soulmarks. As a type of 'fuck you' to the system. I just feel bad for their Soulmates, but I guess if they _are_ Soulmates, they might have also blacked out theirs too..," trailed off Jisoo contemplatively.

As Jihoon jotted down the notes the teacher had just written up on the board, he asks, "Isn't saying 'fuck' against your moral code?"

Jisoo shrugged as if he hadn't scolded Jihoon numerous times before about his language. "I'm just giving it a try."

Jihoon sends him a skeptical look at that. "Don't tell me this is your own type of 'fuck you' to the system."

Jisoo would have replied if he hadn't just then realized that the whole class was looking back at him. Jisoo looked up to the teacher, who wasn't happy with his side conversation during class. All Jisoo could do was smile sheepishly as Jihoon laughed lowly behind his hand.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jisoo followed Jihoon out of class, still trying to get something out of Jihoon on the topic.

Jihoon had already told Jisoo long ago what his stance was when it came to Soulmates. Which was that he thought it was a bunch of over hyped up bullshit. That there was no such thing as someone who could make no mistakes in your eyes. Someone who knew exactly what to say to pacify or comfort you in just the right way. No such thing as love at one touch, as Jihoon liked to call it.

"So are you going to go and black out your Soulmark too then?" asked Jisoo, a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. He was well aware of how Jihoon felt on the topic but Jisoo wasn't one to be swayed easily. There was a _reason_ some higher power had decided to bestow onto them these Soulmarks. And Jisoo wasn't one to go against a higher beings reasonings.

Jihoon scoffed at that. "No way. I'm just going to live out my life the way I want to and not going to give this Soulmate stuff more thought than necessary. Just because I'm 'destined' to meet someone and love them doesn't mean I actually have to do that."

Jihoon knew that everything that was coming out of his mouth was utter bullshit, knowing that he probably wouldn’t ever be able to convince himself completely to the words he was saying. Because just like the rest of society, he knew that one day he was going to let his curiosity get the better of him and he’ll find himself forking over the money and adding his own Soulmark to the millions that were also pending.

But Jisoo didn't need to know that. If he worded it vaguely enough, maybe Jisoo will just let it go.

As the pair turned a corner, they came upon an unexpected scene. Not too far down the hallway, a group of girls surrounded a lone boy. It looked like all the girls were trying to get the guys attention, but it sounded more like a battle to see which girl could get the pitch of their voice the highest. Together, it almost sounded like a jet engine was just down the hall, and the decibel they were reaching was soon only going to be audible to dogs.

Jihoon wasn't subtle as he clamped his hands over his ears as they passed by the group. When Jisoo caught a glimpse of who was in the middle, a sour expression came over his face.

After they were finally at a distance where they could actually hear each other talk, Jihoon looked to Jisoo confused.

"I wonder what that was about."

"Oh, I know what that was about."

The sour expression seemed to bleed into his words, making it evident that Jisoo was very annoyed with what they just witnessed.

Jihoon raised his eyebrow at how Jisoo was acting. "Mind enlightening me?"

Jisoo let out a deep sigh before explaining.

"That was _Jeonghan._ He's apparently the school’s 'angel'," said Jisoo, using air quotes with his fingers when he said angel, "I only heard a rumor but I guess it true that he's letting girls touch him to see if they’re his Soulmate. I really don't have a problem with actively seeking your Soulmate, but what bothers me is that he's making the girls pay to touch him."

Jihoon let out a low whistle at the news. "Damn, with how the girls were flocking to him, I can't say I blame him. I would probably do that too if I had his looks. Maybe I still can…," Jihoon mumbles out the last part, getting lost in thought about how he could make it work.

When he looked back at his friend, Jisoo looked thoroughly disappointed in Jihoon.

All Jihoon could do was shrug, not feeling guilty about it at all. If anything, he was upset that he hadn't thought of the idea first.

But a fun thought had just popped up in his mind. And Jihoon could never resist poking fun at Jisoo.

"Well, what would you do if he was _your_ Soulmate?" Jihoon punctuated his sentence with a shit eating grin. He knew Jisoo wasn't going to like that.

Jisoo scoffed hard at Jihoon’s words.

"Him? Never. Someone who throws the ideals of the Soulmate out so easily could never by my Soulmate," said Jisoo definitively. He even threw his head back and stuck his nose in the air, and if that wasn't the most snobbish act Jihoon had ever seen, he didn't know what snobbish was.

But Jihoon was almost cackling at Jisoo’s reaction. Sometimes it was too easy to get a rise out of the boy.

"Besides," continued Jisoo, "I'm not gay."

Jihoon had to roll his eyes at that.

"Alright. Whatever you say. But I also distinctly remember you saying something along the lines of, 'You can't choose your Soulmate. You get what you get.' Or some shit like that," quoted Jihoon as they exited the building and started in the direction of their usual meet up spot with friends before going to get food for lunch.

Jisoo pursed his lips, annoyed that Jihoon was throwing his words back at him.

"...You don’t have to be lovers with your Soulmate," said Jisoo hesitantly, "Besides, have you seen the hair on him? I'm surprised his mother lets him keep it like that."

Jihoon was sometimes genuinely surprised at what came out of Jisoo’s mouth.

"Do you even listen to yourself when you talk?" questioned Jihoon with a shake of his head.

In the distance, he could see one of their friends waving at them, as if they didn't already know it was them. As they got closer, Jihoon could finally make out who was all there. Mingyu, Wonwoo, and Soonyoung were sitting on the edge of the school’s fountain, watching as they approached.

"Hey, Jihoon! It's great to see you actually joining us for lunch," remarked Soonyoung. Jihoon scowled over at Soonyoung as he sat down with them on the fountain's edge. He knew that someone was going to say something about his usual absence at lunch, but he had hoped it wouldn’t happen.

Mingyu then shoved Soonyoung's shoulder with his foot, not willing to get up from where he was leaning up against Wonwoo.

"Hey, give him a break. We don't want to discourage him from coming and eating lunch with us."

Jihoon looked over to Mingyu, just in time to see him snuggle farther down in his laying position against Wonwoo’s side. Seeing the two of them be cute together was almost disgusting in how sweet it was.

Wonwoo and Mingyu were some of the lucky ones, who found their Soulmate at a young age. It hadn’t been hard for them to find each other since they had been best friends since middle school. It was on Mingyu’s 18th birthday when they were checking out Mingyu’s newly acquired Soulmark when they felt the spring and sunshine that came when you touched your Soulmate.

Jisoo seemed to almost melt at how cute they were being. Jihoon couldn't break up the love fest faster. "Alright. Well, since I am here. Let's go and actually get food."

At the mention of food, both Mingyu and Wonwoo hopped up from their spots, eager to eat.

When they reached the cafeteria, they split up into small groups to hunt and gather more efficiently. Which meant that Wonwoo and Mingyu went left and Jisoo and Soonyoung went right, leaving Jihoon on his own to get whatever he wanted.

He made his way over to a stand, surveying all his choices. He hadn't been to the school’s cafeteria in a while so he needed to reacquaint himself with what was around.

It was when Jihoon was reaching out for a muffin when he heard a loud commotion coming from the entrance of the cafeteria. Curious, Jihoon glanced over, spotting the boy from the hallway. But instead of his entourage of girls with him, he had another boy’s arm sling over his shoulder. It looked like they had just ditched the girl group though if the collective look of disappointment on the group’s faces who were left outside was anything to go by.

The two boys looked quite unstable as they walked in Jihoon’s direction. The unknown boy was walking haphazardly, making both boys sway in a way that looked like they were two drunks trying to keep each other from falling over.

They were finally close enough for Jihoon to pick up on some of their conversation.

"I can't believe how much money you have been making. It's almost sad how the girls just throw their money at you. You're my little cash cow." The second boy squeezed Jeonghan’s cheek affectionately.

"Seungcheol," said Jeonghan, sickeningly sweet kindness almost dripping from his voice. He then harshly slapped away his hand, causing Seungcheol to send him an over dramatic pout. "Maybe you shouldn't be trying to mess up my 'pretty' face then."

The way they were acting together made it evident they were probably close friends.  
Jihoon wanted to roll his eyes at how obvious they were being about only doing it for the money. Maybe he was glad he wasn't the one to think of it first, he couldn't imagine being as shallow at these guys.

Jihoon turned his attention back to his muffin when they got closer, not wanting to give them a reason to think he was eavesdropping, even though he was.

If Jihoon had been paying attention, he would have seen the second boy stumble over Jeonghan’s foot, losing his balance completely. But before he could go crashing into an unsuspecting Jihoon, he was caught roughly by his elbow.

Jihoon looked up to suddenly see Wonwoo next to him, holding onto the stranger’s arm. Said stranger was then able to regain his balance.

"Uh, thanks," said the boy hesitantly when he realized that he was just saved from falling on someone.

"Just watch out where you're going next time," replied Wonwoo, albeit a bit harshly.

All the boy did was nod, seemingly slightly dazed by Wonwoo’s kind gesture then harsh words towards him, before he continued on his way into the cafeteria with Jeonghan in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Just as a warning. I'm not sure if I'm going to have a happy ending for this or not. So don't say I didn't warn you.


	2. Seungcheol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want everyone to take note that I added 'Mild Sexual Content' to the tags before proceeding.

Jihoon watched as Wonwoo glared after the two departing boys, only mildly confused as to why Wonwoo was acting so aggressively towards someone he hadn't ever met before. It was only after hearing three pairs of feet jogging up to the two did Wonwoo turn his steely gaze from the backs of the retreating boys.

"What just happened?!" asked Soonyoung excitedly, much more curious to what just unfolded then to the well-being of his friend. If there was something even slightly interesting going on, Soonyoung was all over it.

Mingyu raised an eyebrow questioningly at Wonwoo’s flat expression. Wonwoo was quick to drop the scowl so he could smile at Mingyu, reassuring him that nothing serious had just happened.

"Nothing, just saving Jihoon from getting squished. That guy didn't look light," answered Wonwoo, tone light and slightly teasing.

Jihoon scowled at Wonwoo. "Well, it's not like I asked you to save me or anything," huffed Jihoon as he crossed his arms over his chest. Everyone knew that he hated it when anyone even slightly hinted towards him being shorter than average.

"And just when you thought Jeonghan couldn't sink any lower as a person, he goes and tries to hurt our Jihoon," scoffed Jisoo. Jihoon opened his mouth, about to call Jisoo out on the fact that he hadn't actually seen what had happened, and was jumping to conclusions, but closed it when he realized that it was a pointless cause. He knew that if you got on Jisoo’s bad side, he was quick to judge.

Wonwoo and Mingyu looked at Jisoo quizzically. But before either one could ask what that statement had been about, they were interrupted by an enthusiastic Soonyoung.

“That was Jeonghan!?"

Soonyoung was known around the campus as that guy who knew about everything and recognized everyone enrolled. He stuck his nose into everyone's business, but luckily he was well liked by people, so it usually didn't cause problems. It was rare for Soonyoung not to recognize someone’s face, but if he didn't, it wouldn't take long for him to learn everything he wanted to know about them.

It didn't help that Soonyoung worked part time in the administration office, giving the boy full access to the school’s enrollment information. The fact that he hadn't recognized Jeonghan’s face did surprise Jihoon slightly, especially since there was apparently gossip and rumors going around about him.

Jisoo seemed to revel in the fact that he knew something that Soonyoung didn't know if the small smile and glint in his eye was anything to go by.

"Oh, don't tell me you haven't heard about what Jeonghan has been doing around campus Soonyoung?!" exclaimed Jisoo, accompanying the statement with an overly shocked expression.

It was taking everything in Jihoon not to hit Jisoo for how overly dramatic he was being. But instead of resorting to violence, Jihoon just rolled his eyes at the two boys, deciding he no longer wanted to actively listen to their conversation.

Jihoon then turned to Wonwoo, a grateful smile on his face. "Thanks for the save, by the way."

Wonwoo just smiled at the boy as a way of accepting his gratitude. He then eyed Jihoon’s nearly empty tray. "Is that all you're getting?" asked Wonwoo conversationally.

Jihoon then nodded, before walking away from the sudden squeal that came from Soonyoung behind him.

"Don't act all high and mighty Hong Jisoo! You only know about this because it has something to do with Soulmates!" shouted Soonyoung indignantly.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seungcheol let himself flop haphazardly onto his king sized bed. It was around 9 at night and he had just finished the last of the homework he needed to have done by the next day.

He scratched at his exposed stomach contemplatively, wondering if the anime he had been watching had updated yet. He rolled his head to the side to looked over to his desk, where his laptop laid. After about 5 seconds of staring at it, he let out a long sigh, resigning himself to the fact that he was too lazy at the moment to get up and grab it.

He then looked down to where he had been scratching at his stomach lazily. He raised his hand up, to reveal his Soulmark. The stark black against his pale tummy always seemed to catch his attention. It laid just above his bellybutton, in the dead center of his abdomen.

Seungcheol rubbed over it, a small smile pulling at his lips. He had always been a sucker for the idea of his Soulmate.

When young, it was all he could think about. It was when he reached the age of 14 that his intense obsession had died down to a casual interest. He had become more laid back about the idea and was happy to let life take him where it felt like leading him when it came to his Soulmate. Come age 18, his interest had once again sparked when he realized that not only did he have one Soulmark, but two.

When he told his mom, she had nearly cried with excitement. She rambled on about how rare it was to hear someone having two Soulmates and how she shouldn't have been so surprised because Seungcheol was such a loving kid, how could he _not_ have two Soulmates.

Jeonghan wasn't quite as enthusiastic about it as his mother had been.

Jeonghan was in his first year of university just like him when they met. Seungcheol had instantly gravitated towards the boy with the beautiful long brown hair that sat in front of him in his math class. He nearly cried when he felt the paradise that came when his hand brushed the boy’s when he asked if Seungcheol had a spare pencil.

After exchanging contact information, they had become instant friends, which shouldn't have been such a surprise to Seungcheol since they were Soulmates. After only knowing each other for a year, they decided to move in together for the new school year.

Seungcheol had thought he had known everything there was to know about Jeonghan’s personality by that point in their relationship. But realizing that Jeonghan was the _possessive_ type definitely came as a surprise to Seungcheol, especially since it was Jeonghan’s idea in the first place to keep the fact that they were Soulmates a secret to people at school.

Seungcheol leaned up on the bed, catching his weight onto his left elbow as he glanced down to his exposed stomach. He let his right hand reach lower and lift the waistband of his sweatpants to reveal his second Soulmark. Its placement was much more lewd when compared to his first. It sat almost innocently just to the upper right side of Seungcheol’s dick, so close that even one of the corners of the hexagon climbed up the side.

It wasn't until him and Jeonghan were celebrating their new living quarters by getting intimate for the first time that Jeonghan found out about his second Soulmark. He had never felt his dick soften as fast as when he was shoved hard in the shoulder, with the words, "What do you mean you didn't think it was important for me to know!" being venomously spit in his face by a very obviously upset Jeonghan.

It had taken about 2 hours and many apologizes said through the crack in the door to finally coax Jeonghan out of their bathroom.

It was that night that Jeonghan had made Seungcheol promise that he wouldn't actively search for his other Soulmate, to which Seungcheol had agreed to only because he did agree with Jeonghan’s reasoning of, "Why would you want another when you have a perfectly fine Soulmate right in front of you?"

Seungcheol let the waistband of his pants snap back to his skin as he let out a soft sigh. Sometimes he felt the slight twinge of guilt towards making that promise. What if his other Soulmate was out there looking for him? And here was Seungcheol, basically hiding from him.

Jeonghan had at one point gotten so paranoid that Seungcheol would find his other Soulmate accidentally like how they found each other and pretty much forbade Seungcheol from touching anyone unnecessarily. It took about a week to persuade Jeonghan that that rule was ridiculous.

Sometimes Jeonghan’s possessiveness was almost overbearing. Half the time they had to have sex with the lights off if Seungcheol didn't want it to lead to Jeonghan either leaving because of how mad he was or having overly rough sex, Jeonghan leaving as many marks as he could on Seungcheol skin, almost as a 'see how much more of Seungcheol’s skin I posses then you do' to Seungcheol’s other Soulmark. But what could he do? Jeonghan was his Soulmate and Seungcheol would do anything to make sure he stayed happy.

Seungcheol laid back and let his eyes slide shut. Sometimes Seungcheol let himself wonder what his other Soulmate was like. He often contemplated what would happen if he did somehow meet his other Soulmate.

Would Jeonghan leave him? Would his other Soulmate be accepting to the fact that he already had one? Would they be up for a threes—

Seungcheol was suddenly distracted from his thoughts by the loud smack of the front door hitting the wall and Jeonghan’s call beckoning Seungcheol. Jeonghan must have brought some food for dinner if the smell was any indicator.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two weeks passed without any more interesting occurrences. It wasn't until Jihoon made it to his music composition class on a Tuesday morning that something out of the ordinary happened.

As Jihoon walked into class, his eyesight zeroed in on the one and only Soonyoung casually teetering on the back legs of his usual seat, chatting up Jisoo about ten minutes before class was supposed to start.

Jihoon walked up right behind Soonyoung, waiting stiffly for either of the boys to notice his presence. When neither of them seemed to realize that Jihoon was present, he decided to make his presence known.

Jihoon gripped the back of Soonyoung’s chair and pulled just slightly, causing Soonyoung to quickly flail out his limbs in an attempt to catch the balance he thought he had lost. Jihoon snickered at Soonyoung’s pouting face when he realized that his sudden loss of balance was caused by Jihoon.

"Soonyoung. I think you are mistaken. I don't remember you ever being enrolled in music composition, let alone in my class. Or my seat."

The only indication to Jihoon that Soonyoung had heard his words was the small grimace that passed over his face.

Soonyoung was quick to recover from Jihoon’s small prank. "It's so nice to see you so lively in the morning Jihoon. I was worried I was going to have to tell Jisoo the news without you," said Soonyoung, easily dismissing Jihoon’s obvious annoyance.

Soonyoung then patted the empty seat next to him, encouraging Jihoon to sit in it. Jihoon only scowled when he realized that Soonyoung wasn't planning on giving up his seat to its rightful owner.

Soonyoung’s words had caught Jisoo’s attention. "What news?"

Soonyoung sat patiently as Jihoon sat in the new chair, waiting for the boy to be situated before starting his story.

"Now that everyone is here—" said Soonyoung extravagantly. Jihoon interrupted him with a grumbled, " _Why_ are you here anyways."

Soonyoung proceeded to ignore Jihoon. "I have some nice gossip on Jeonghan that I feel like you two would be interested in."

At the mention of Jeonghan’s name, Jisoo seemed to both bristle with annoyance and lean forward in interest. Jihoon just deadpanned at the boy.

"And why do you think I would be interested in hearing gossip about Jeonghan?" questioned Jihoon flatly. He then turned his body away from Soonyoung, now busying himself with setting up for the class.

"Because," stressed Soonyoung, getting slightly irritated with the constant interruptions, "I heard a rumor that he has already found his Soulmate."

Soonyoung then seemed to pause for dramatic effect. He looked back and forth between Jisoo and Jihoon, seemingly waiting for some reaction from either of them.

Jisoo just stared at the boy, waiting for him to continue. When it became apparent to Jihoon that Soonyoung wasn't going to continue without someone aiding, Jihoon let out a deep sigh.

"And _why_ would we care if he has found his Soulmate already or not Soonyoung?" questioned Jihoon sarcastically.

"I'm so glad you asked Jihoon. It means that Jeonghan has been scamming girls out of their money because he knew full well that none of them could actually be his Soulmate," said Soonyoung eloquently, making sure to pronounce each word correctly, as to not take away from the effect by causing someone to mishear him.

At that, Jisoo let out a scandalized gasp. "I can't believe that little fucker would do that to the poor girls!" exclaimed an upset Jisoo.

Soonyoung leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head comfortably. The satisfied smirk on his face plainly showed that he was happy to finally get the response he had been waiting for.

Jihoon leaned forward so he could look past Soonyoung to Jisoo. "That was a pretty big stretch just so you could say the word 'fuck', Jisoo," said Jihoon blankly.

Before Jisoo could retort, their line of sight was cut off by Soonyoung placing his hand on Jihoon’s face. "No, shh. Back to what we were just talking about. I think we should do something about it."

Both boys on either side of Soonyoung sent him confused looks. "What do you mean ‘do something about it’?" asked a skeptical Jisoo.

"I _mean._ We should find out if the rumor is true or not," said Soonyoung confidently. Jihoon wanted to groan at how vague Soonyoung was being today. Luckily, it seemed like Soonyoung had caught Jisoo’s undivided attention now.

"And how are we going to do that?" asked Jisoo.

Sure, he pretty much hated Jeonghan for who he was as a person, but when it came to Soulmates, Jisoo was always curious.

"Yes, Soonyoung. How in the world are we going to figure out if Jeonghan has already found his Soulmate or not?" asked a slightly muffled Jihoon dryly. At this point, Jihoon had his forehead placed flat down on the desk, praying that the teacher would come in and start class early so he wouldn't have to entertain this conversation anymore.

"By getting him to admit to it."


	3. Jisoo

"Out of all the dumb ideas out there, this has got to be the worst."

Jihoon laid flat on his back, stretched out on a bench the school provided. Jisoo was standing next to him, bouncing on the balls of his feet. The pair was just waiting around for Soonyoung to show up before they executed their poorly thought out plan.

"I think it's fine. And if it doesn't work out, no harm no foul. At least not to anyone who's important," replied Jisoo confidently. He was now starting to throw small fake punches, trying to get himself pumped up for what they were about to do.

"But why did I have to be apart of this? I'm sure Mingyu would have been glad to take part in this ridiculous plan," lamented Jihoon as he threw his arms about above his head.

Jisoo stopped his ridiculous pep up routine to turn and give Jihoon a skeptical look. "Mingyu and Wonwoo went on a trip together to visit Wonwoo’s parents, did you forget they were out of town?"

Jihoon’s cheeks burned slightly at Jisoo’s accusation, even though Jihoon could tell there was no malice behind the question. He was just glad that Jisoo assumed he forgot over the truth, which was that Jihoon actually didn't know at all about that. Sure, Jihoon wasn't the best friend a person could have, but at least that explains why Jihoon hadn't seen the pair in a day or two.

Jihoon settled on changing the subject rather than answer Jisoo’s question. "When is Soonyoung going to get here anyway? I'm starting to get hungry." That was a lie, to deflect Jisoo’s attention onto something else, but he didn't need to know that.

Jisoo took the subject change in stride as he pulled out his pocketed phone to check the time. When he was about to announce the time, he was interrupted by Soonyoung jogging up to them.

"Sorry, I'm late! The librarian was giving me crap about how much I've been printing this month," explained a slightly out of breath Soonyoung, who then presented said piece of paper that he had just printed. Jihoon sat up and tugged it out of Soonyoung’s hands before scanning over it.

Ignoring Soonyoung’s apparent problem with over printing, Jihoon instead asked, "Why do we need Jeonghan’s complete schedule for this?"

He wasn't exactly paying close attention to Soonyoung when the boy was going over the fine details of the plan. All he knew was the basics of what they were trying to accomplish and that he was here as back up. Or something like that.

"So we know when and where he is going to be at all times. It makes ambushing him much easier," said Soonyoung casually, like this wasn't something completely bizarre.

People do not casually use their administration privileges to print a student’s schedule to ambush them. If Jihoon hadn't had anything better to entertain himself, he would have been long gone, leaving Soonyoung and Jisoo to play out this crazy plan on their own.

Jisoo reached his hand out, indicating that he also wanted to look at the paper. Jihoon handed it over easily, letting Jisoo have his turn to scan the paper.

"Alright, so it's 11:30 now, meaning that Jeonghan is over in the science building right now. He'll be out in about 20 minutes," explained Jisoo.

Jihoon stared at the boy, still slightly confused as to why Jisoo was going along with this. Usually, he was the voice of reason in their group. Sometimes so was Wonwoo, but he had a strange sense of humor, so he was a wild card when it came to whether he was going to be for or against any of the obscure plans their group thought up.

"Why are we even doing this in the first place? What are we going to get from exposing Jeonghan’s scam?" asked Jihoon, trying one last time to somehow convince the other two that they shouldn't be doing this.

"I, as a gentleman, can not stand by while a heathen preys on the dreams of innocent girls who just want to find their soulmate," explained Jisoo, albeit a little over dramatically. Knowing there was no sense in trying to talk Jisoo out of this after he made up his mind, Jihoon then turned his attention to Soonyoung, waiting for his answer.

Jihoon didn't really know what he expected, but what he got was a shrug and a, "It seems like fun," out of Soonyoung. Which meant that they were going to be doing this with or without Jihoon.

If Jihoon somehow thought that he might have lost all sense of caring for his friends, at least now he knew that it wasn't all gone. Because if he had, he would have walked away from this disaster waiting to happen, boredom be damned.

Jihoon then let out a deep sigh before getting to his feet. "Well, then let's start to heading over, it's about a 10-minute walk from here and I wouldn't want to be late," said Jihoon sarcastically.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The three had staked out the perfect spot to intercept Jeonghan on his way out of class, just around the corner from the hallway his class was in. Luckily for them, his class was in a dead end, meaning that he had to come down this hallway if he wanted to exit the building.

Jisoo was starting to look nervous as he fanned himself with his hands, all the while muttering to himself, "I can do this. I took drama in high school, this is nothing."

Jihoon would have rolled his eyes if the boy didn't look so flustered.

Soonyoung pulled out his wallet and handed over a wad of money to Jisoo, who had stopped his fanning to take it.

"I hear that he hasn't raised his prices, but this should be enough to cover the pay when he asks for money," explained Soonyoung as he pocketed his wallet again.

The loud bang of the classroom door hitting the wall was their first indicator that Jeonghan’s class had just gotten out. The color drained from Jisoo’s face as he turned quickly to Soonyoung before saying, "I don't think I can do this."

Soonyoung placed both his hands on Jisoo’s shoulders before rubbing them soothingly. "You got this. Just try to remember all those poor girls. They deserve redemption."

Jihoon watched as Jisoo’s face hardened at Soonyoung’s words before nodding determinedly.

It was moments like this that Jihoon wondered about his friends' priorities in life.

The stream of students that just exited their class was now turning the corner into the hall that they stood in, distracting Jihoon from his friend's antics. He couldn't help but start to scan the crowd for Jeonghan, but it wasn't long before he caught a glimpse of the boy as he turned the corner. Jihoon’s attention was then captured by the tall boy directly to Jeonghan’s right, who Jihoon recognized to be the boy that almost fell on him.

Soonyoung must have seen him right after Jihoon did because he started to curse lowly under his breath at the new development. "Shit, this isn't good. We need him alone for this to work!" exclaimed Soonyoung.

Before Jihoon could offer to just try again later, when Jeonghan was alone, he felt Soonyoung grab and pull Jihoon’s arm roughly, forcing Jihoon to walk with him before he could protest in any way. All the while Soonyoung was hissing into his ear.

"Alright, this is where you come in. You just need to distract Seungcheol long enough for Jisoo to get Jeonghan away. We can't have a friend around to defend him," explained Soonyoung quickly.

Jihoon was just about to put on the brakes, for his mind had finally caught up to what was happening. Which was Soonyoung literally dragging him into their mess of a plan. But before he could do anything to stop Soonyoung, he felt a rather rough shove ruin his balance. Oddly enough, in the midst of all this chaos, Jihoon was able to catch a glimpse of Jisoo also approaching from the other side.

Jihoon let out a loud huff of air as his chest connected with Seungcheol’s. When he was shoved by Soonyoung, Jihoon had thrown his arms out to catch himself, which were now clamped onto Seungcheol’s upper arms. But he couldn't do much else, for a strange feeling had started to overtake his body.

It seemed to have originated in his stomach but was quick to spread to the tips of Jihoon’s fingers and toes. Jihoon stared up into Seungcheol’s equally wide eyes as he felt the feeling overcome his whole body in waves.

It felt like he had just experienced the happiest moment in his life, which was an odd sensation since it didn't come from him consciously reacting to anything. It was hard to explain, almost like how sometimes you just feel unbearably sad, but for the complete opposite side of the emotion spectrum. It was like his body somehow knew that it had found its other half and was celebrating.

Seungcheol seemed to break out of the stupor that both of them fell into before Jihoon could. Still in Jihoon’s firm grip, Seungcheol looked around him, quickly taking in where he was and who he was with.

Seungcheol’s arms had at some point unconsciously came up and held onto Jihoon’s elbows, which was Jihoon’s saving grace. He probably would have fell over if he hadn't had the anchor Seungcheol was providing. Seungcheol breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw that Jeonghan was completely distracted, and hadn't seen anything that had just happened between him and Jihoon.

Seungcheol then returned his attention to Jihoon, who was all but leaning on to Seungcheol. And for a second time that day, Jihoon felt himself being tugged as Seungcheol leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Come with me."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jisoo was nearly shaking in his shoes as he pushed off the wall behind him and made his way to Jeonghan. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Soonyoung pulling Jihoon around the crowd and to the other side of the hall, probably trying to get rid of Jeonghan’s friend. But Jisoo kept his eyes forwards, trying to slip into the persona of someone interested in Jeonghan.

When he got within hearing distance, Jisoo called out a casual, "Hey Jeonghan."

Jisoo was proud that he hadn’t let his nerves show in his voice.

Said boy then turned his gaze to Jisoo, giving him his undivided attention. In that moment, Jisoo had to admit to himself that Jeonghan was attractive. He can see why so many people wanted to be his soulmate if you took his personality out of the equation.

Jeonghan then stopped, waiting to see what Jisoo wanted from him. Jisoo took a steady breath before saying, "I heard that you're letting people check to see if they're your soulmate."

Jeonghan lifted a curious eyebrow at Jisoo’s statement, knowing full well what Jisoo was getting at. "You want to see if you're my soulmate?" asked Jeonghan skeptically.

Jisoo only nodded before he remembered he was trying to be charming. He then gave him the best smile he could produce under the circumstances, but Jeonghan apparently wasn't fazed by it.

"And your name is...?" asked Jeonghan, trailing off at the end. Jisoo was put off by the arrogant air he gave off, almost like Jisoo wasn't worth his time, but it wasn't enough to cause Jisoo to forget his manners. Before thinking about it, Jisoo reached out his hand in greeting before introducing himself.

Jeonghan looked down to Jisoo’s hand before looking back up at Jisoo.

"Alright, Jisoo. But I'm going to need some money before I touch you," replied Jeonghan coolly.

Jisoo dropped his hand, embarrassment flaring up in his chest. It wasn't like he was trying to trick him into touching him, he was just being polite.

Remembering the plan, Jisoo tried again. "Well, I was hoping I could see your Soulmark first? No point in wasting money when I can just see visually if you are my soulmate or not." Jisoo was once again proud of himself, being able to slip in a small jab at Jeonghan by indicating he'd be wasting money on him.

Jeonghan eyed him wearily. He didn't look all that convinced that Jisoo was here just to test out if they were soulmates, which wasn't wrong of him to assume. Jisoo was just slightly miffed that his acting skills apparently weren't up to par if Jeonghan was starting to look suspicious. Jisoo just hoped that Jeonghan wouldn't suddenly start to turn down requests, even if his was slightly different from what he probably usually got.

"Sure, but you'll have to pay a little extra if you do decide to test out if we are soulmates," replied Jeonghan casually. Jisoo felt a flash of anger surge through him at fact that Jeonghan was trying to scam even more money off him, but his constant mantra of, 'help the student body' was helping to keep the look of contempt off his face.

"Of course," said Jisoo calmly, trying to give off an air that indicated that the money wasn’t an issue.

As Jeonghan reached for the sleeve of his left arm with his right, Jisoo took that moment to realize that neither Jihoon or Jeonghan’s friend was with them anymore. Jisoo allowed himself a moment to feel proud by the fact that Jihoon had helped to carry out their plan.

Jeonghan then rolled up his short sleeve shirt just enough to show off the hexagon near his shoulder blade. Jisoo came a little closer, acting interested as he looked at Jeonghan Soulmark. He could instantly tell that it didn't match his, but he still needed to act interested for the plan to keep going smoothly.

Jisoo leaned away before saying, "I can't really tell, but it looks like it might match." Jeonghan then nodded before presenting his hand, telling Jisoo without words that he was ready for payment. Jisoo pulled out the small wad of cash Soonyoung had just minutes before handed off to him. When he reached out to pass it off, Jisoo took note that Jeonghan went out of his way to not touch him.

Jeonghan was quick to count the money before nodding, accepting the amount that Jisoo had handed him. Jeonghan then displayed his hand like how he had before, but this time Jisoo knew it was so they could hold hands.

Jeonghan seemed like the kind of guy that got what he wanted out of life, with how he expected Jisoo to know what he wanted without saying anything. All these small things were starting to really get on Jisoo’s nerves, and he entertained the thought of punching Jeonghan instead of taking his hand as a way to check their soulmate status.

Unfortunately, Jeonghan had to not hate Jisoo if the rest of the plan was to work out. Jisoo resigned himself to testing it the civilized way and reached out to take Jeonghan’s hand in his.

But not even a second had passed before Jeonghan dropped Jisoo’s hand, recoiling from the touch as if it had burned him. And it might as well have, for Jeonghan was sending him one of the nastiness looks Jisoo had ever been on the receiving end of. But Jisoo could no longer take in much detail from what was around him, the pure bliss that had just rushed around his body was quite distracting.

Jisoo felt the sudden urge to cry. The emotion that he had longed to feel was finally rushing through him, the happiness too sweet. It had been _more_ than what even Jisoo could have ever imagined it to be, which was definitely an accomplishment. How many hours had he contemplated just what it wold feel like when he finally was able to touch his soulmate? Too many to add together in such short notice.

When Jisoo started to feel the happiness fade, he looked up at Jeonghan with a look of amazement in his eyes.

But reality was quick to set in now that the feeling had run its course. Jisoo was left with so many conflicting emotions that he couldn't have ever imagined feeling just after finding his soulmate.

He felt awe at the fact that he had just found his soulmate. The hard pang of disappointment from the fact that _Jeonghan_ of all people was his soulmate. And lastly confusion from the look of pure hatred he was getting from Jeonghan.

"You— you're my soulmate," stammered out Jisoo.

"No. I'm not," spit Jeonghan venomously.

Jisoo emotions were once again careening sideways, Jeonghan’s sudden rage towards him was like getting slapped in the face, leaving Jisoo shocked. And Jisoo had never reacted well to violence.

"Yes, you are. I felt it, and I know you did too," said Jisoo definitively.

It seemed like it was Jeonghan turn to go into shock. "No! You can't be...," trailed off Jeonghan as he shook his head in disbelief. He started to take small steps backward as if he was suddenly afraid of Jisoo.

Jisoo stepped forward, chasing the slowly retreating man. A rush of sadness overcame Jisoo when he realized that his soulmate was running away from him. "But we are," said Jisoo, now trying to convince his soulmate just as much as he was himself.

Jisoo had spent too many hours dreaming and pinning over his soulmate for him to just let said soulmate try and convince him that they weren't. Finding his wits, Jisoo determined in that moment that he wasn't about to let his one and only soulmate slip between his fingers.

When Jisoo placed a reassuring hand on Jeonghan’s shoulder, he felt Jeonghan stiffen under it. Jeonghan’s earlier anger seemed to have come back with a vengeance as he shoved Jisoo away from him.

"But we aren't! I only have one Soulmark and I already found its owner!" declared Jeonghan, desperately trying to get Jisoo to stop advancing on him, his words and actions unwanted.

Jeonghan’s mood swings must have been taking a toll, for he started to sway on his feet a bit. Jisoo's immediate response was to try and steady him, but pulled back at the last second, thinking that it was probably better to let Jeonghan’s emotions run their course.

Jeonghan had by then backed up all the way to the wall, head now downcast, expression void of any emotions.

Jeonghan brought his hand up to his forehead before muttering a small, "I need to find Seungcheol."

He then completely turned his back on Jisoo and walked away. Jisoo couldn't find it in himself to follow after him, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to seek out the individual at a later time.

It was then that Soonyoung suddenly appeared next to a shell-shocked Jisoo. "What happened? Did the plan work?"

Jisoo thought bitterly to himself that yes, they had found out the answer they had been trying to get, but in the worst way possible.

Jisoo ignored Soonyoung’s second question and only answered the first.

"I just found my soulmate."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for leaving with 2 cliffhangers... we will find out what happens between Jihoon and Seungcheol in the next chapter!


	4. Jeonghan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN UPDATE. I'M JUST AS SHOCKED AS THE REST OF YOU GUYS PROBABLY ARE. I honestly wasn't planning on continuing work on this one until after finishing my other in progress fic, but I needed a small break from that plot line, so HERE WE ARE.
> 
> Just a quick note, I did go back and edit a few minor things from the previous chapters, nothing big to need you to go back and re-read if you've already done so. (But I wouldn't blame you if you needed a refresher on what's happened so far, I definitely did...) 
> 
> Please enjoy!!

Jihoon felt both too full and drained empty of emotions simultaneously. It was a strange feeling, almost like the sudden onslaught had caused his body to self destruct to the point of no longer being capable to handle _any_ emotion at all. Which would explain the look of emptiness that has now made residents on Jihoon’s face.

He was vaguely aware of the slight tingling he felt run up his arm from the contact with Seungcheol’s hand, which was currently pulling Jihoon away and out of the science building. But he couldn’t be positive that he wasn’t just imagining it.

When the pair made it to an out of the way place outside, off the sidewalk and away from most of the students that walked by, was when Seungcheol must have decided that they had gone far enough.

Neither boy spoke at first. Jihoon couldn’t bring himself to get his mouth working, let alone kickstarting his brain enough to come up with something to say.

What are you even suppose to say to someone that was just a little more than a stranger 5 minutes ago, who is apparently your Soulmate?

Jihoon never prepared anything, having thought that this sort of moment wouldn’t have happened anywhere close to this point in his life. Maybe in a few more years, but not now.

So he just stared down at their still connected hands, waiting for Seungcheol to make the first move. But now that Jihoon thought about it, he wasn’t even sure if that was his name.

Jihoon’s mind had just filled in that name for him to use when he suddenly needed it when referring to his newly realized soulmate. Jihoon figured that he must have heard Soonyoung say the boy's name, which supplied Jihoon with the information he needed to put a name to the person. Maybe he should introduce himself? Jihoon doubts that Seungcheol knew what _his_ name was.

When Jihoon could finally bring himself to lift his gaze, he was greeted to an expression that wavered in between worried and longing. A strange expression to see directed towards himself by a stranger.

“Uh,” started Jihoon, able to finally find his voice, “I don’t think we’ve met. My name is Jihoon.”

The awkwardness radiating off of Jihoon was almost pliable, but he wasn’t sure what the proper procedure was. He’s never had to introduce himself to someone under such circumstances before.

Seungcheol’s expression changed to one that was much more positive, casting a smile down at Jihoon.

“Jihoon..,” mimicked Seungcheol, almost like he was trying out how it tasted on his tongue.

“And you’re.. Seungcheol?” asked Jihoon, realizing a second too late that it was probably a strange thing that he would already know Seungcheol’s name.

The surprised look confirmed Jihoon’s fears, but Seungcheol was quick to recover, seemingly finding either humor or amusement out of the fact that Jihoon already knew his name.

“Yeah, it is. How did you know that?” asked Seungcheol with a great deal of mirth in his tone.

“Uh,” paused Jihoon again. His brain wasn’t exactly in the right place at the moment, but he was trying to stabilize it, realizing just then that he probably isn’t making a very good first impression. “My friend Soonyoung told me.”

God, that also sounded incriminating. Jihoon felt his stomach drop when Seungcheol’s expression reflected that, now slightly confused.

Jihoon took a deep breath. It was looking like he was going to have to tell Seungcheol about his friends’ ridiculous plan regarding Jeonghan if he was going to be able to scrape together any of his remaining pride.

Plus, apparently they are Soulmates. It’s not like Seungcheol wasn’t going to be around in Jihoon’s life anymore. He might as well learn how idiotic Jihoon’s friends could be now rather than later.

“My friend, Soonyoung, heard a rumor that Jeonghan already has a soulmate,” Seungcheol’s polite smile fell slightly at the corners when he heard his words, but Jihoon ignored it as he continued, “So him and my other friend Jisoo made up a ridiculous plan to figure out if he did or not.

“Soonyoung’s kind of a self titled detective,” explains Jihoon, “and he works in the administrative office, a position a person like himself really shouldn’t be allowed in, so he’s able to get ahold of things like student information.”

Seungcheol just nods politely, if not a bit blankly. But Jihoon doesn’t really blame him. He’s honestly taking in his friend’s stupidity pretty well, much better than he probably would have if the tables were turned.

“And Soonyoung has always been creepily prepared when it came to his dumb ideas. Which is where I heard your name from,” finished Jihoon a bit anticlimactically.

“He found out who I was since I’m Jeonghan’s friend?” supplies Seungcheol, filling in the lost bit of information that Jihoon had forgotten to give.

So he just nods, since what Seungcheol just said was correct.

They were falling into an awkward silence again but was thankfully interrupted by a muffled musical tone, something Jihoon recognized as a default ringtone.

Seungcheol sent a small sheepish smile at Jihoon before digging into his pocket and producing said device that was ringing.

After a quick look at the caller ID, Seungcheol looked back to Jihoon with a slightly more apologetic look.

“Sorry, I really got to take this. It won’t be long, so stay right there!” exclaims Seungcheol, motioning for Jihoon to do just as he asked and stay put.

Jihoon couldn’t help the small frown that tugged at his lips. Now that Seungcheol had his back turned and voice hushed, Jihoon could finally _really_ take in what had just happened.

Which was that he had just found his fucking _Soulmate_.

And he was pretty sure he wasn’t ready.

Was anyone really ready when they first meet the stranger they are destined to spend the rest of their lives with?

It’s almost heartbreaking in a way, the fact that someone is suddenly thrust into your life, and you’re expected to just grin and bare it. There is no meeting and hitting it off on your own terms. No having to sort and figure out your feelings. You are literally handed your Soulmate on a silver platter and expected to already love everything about this unknown person.

Not for the first time, Jihoon finds himself slightly envious of Mingyu’s and Wonwoo’s relationship. They were able to learn and figure out the things they love about each other before they ever knew they were actually Soulmates.

But before Jihoon could go too deep into his thoughts, he was interrupted by Seungcheol keeping his promise, ending his call as quickly as possible.

“Sorry about that,” apologized Seungcheol again, an easy smile returning to his face. Jihoon noted that Seungcheol had left the identity of the caller out of his apology.

But Jihoon was now on edge, his mind freshly reminded of the fact that he never was apart of the Soulmate hype. Never had been and — at least he hoped — never will be, or that’s at least what he told himself.

It dissipated the awkwardness Jihoon had been initially feeling, only leaving behind a pompous attitude and a small sense of curiosity.

Their newly titled Soulmateship was almost now like a challenge in his mind. Finally, Jihoon could actually test out his theories on Soulmates and _prove_ to himself that what he’s been spouting — that everything about a Soulmate is ridiculously unrealistic — is actually right.

So, Jihoon wanted to test the limits of what he could get away with both his so called ‘bond’ and this stranger. He was supposedly, according to Jihoon’s Sex Education teacher back in Jr. high, now closer with this nobody then his own parents. Which meant that he could now leave behind the common curtisy of not prying into Seungcheol’s life unnecessarily that he would have done with anyone else.

Seungcheol’s life was apparently now Jihoon’s too.

That thought both scares and amuses Jihoon somehow, so he is quick to sweep it under the rug and continue with initiating his plan. Which was basically to push the limits of what he should be asking of a stranger.

So instead of politely leaving the phone call behind like he would have with any other stranger, he instead asks about it. “Who was that on the phone?”

A flash of panic crossed Seungcheol’s eyes, who definitely hadn’t _expected_ Jihoon to ask about it.

Jihoon waits patiently to see what Seungcheol would do. Jihoon wanted Seungcheol to tell him to shove off of his business, something he is fully entitled to by society’s standards of politeness. But Jihoon had a comeback for that, who was actually really wanting to pull the Soulmate card.

What Seungcheol answers with was _not_ what Jihoon had expected.

“Uhh,” started Seungcheol, before he glances around them hurriedly, almost like he was trying to find the right answer floating around them. “I should actually tell you. Since you’re my Soulmate and all…” trails off Seungcheol, and that’s exactly what Jihoon had been waiting for. Seungcheol giving away his personal privacy just because of some bond that really has no real basis.

Jihoon loved fighting the system.

“I just need to tell you since there’s no use hiding it and I want to be as honest with you as possible,” Seungcheol hesitates again, but this time it almost seems like he does so because he really doesn’t want to finish what he started saying. Jihoon was trying _real_ hard to keep the shit eating grin off his face now. “But that was my Soulmate. My second Soulmate.”

The sheer amount of surprise that overwhelms Jihoon actually knocks the wind out of him, causing him both to stutter and take a small step back.

The Soulmate that Jihoon had just been so willing to throwing under the metaphorical bus for science and his own enjoyment, apparently had another Soulmate.

Maybe this was the universe getting back at him for being such a horrible person.

And god fucking _damn_ it. Jihoon has always been good at hiding his true feelings from others, but not himself. Why hadn’t Seungcheol let Jihoon hide behind his cynicality or cruelness for even _5 minutes_ before dropping this bomb on him, instantly baring into Jihoon’s absolute biggest fear.

That Soulmates actually _are_ complete bullshit. Because how could Seungcheol be his Soulmate if he _already had one?_

“No,” whispers out Jihoon, and Seungcheol leans in closer, apparently oblivious to Jihoon’s insides melting, trying to hear what he just said.

“What was that?” asked Seungcheol, genuine concern on his face. And Jihoon _really_ didn't need the kindness in his voice from his not Soulmate right now.

But Jihoon also had a bad habit of needing proof to completely believe anything. He needed more than just Seungcheol’s word on this.

So Jihoon forced his voice out of his throat, just barely managing to be loud enough for Seungcheol to hear. “Show me then.”

“Show you? Jeonghan?”

Jihoon _really_ didn’t need so many bombs being dropped on him in such a short amount of time, because they were starting to affect his physical health. Never before had Jihoon been so traumatized to the point of feeling like he needed to throw up.

Today’s been a day for experiences apparently.

And god damn it, not only was Jeonghan the other Soulmate, this meant that Soonyoung _actually_ had been right.

Jihoon has always hated it when Soonyoung was right.

“No. You’re Soulmarks. If you have 2 Soulmates you must have 2 Soulmarks.” Or so said the internet when Jihoon had been curled up with his laptop late at night, scouring the web for all information he could when he was a preteen and curious and _naive_.

“Oh. Right.” And to Jihoon’s slight dismay, Seungcheol set to showing Jihoon, easily giving him everything he has requested of him so far. Jihoon wanted to scream for Seungcheol to do something wrong, give him a real reason to be as upset as he is right now, since the boy has been nothing but nice and honest to Jihoon. Both qualities held very high spots on Jihoon’s scale of necessaries when describing the perfect human being.

Jihoon had his head on straight enough to know when it was appropriate to blame the person or the situation. And it wasn’t Seungcheol’s fault he was apparently born with 2 Soulmates. But it _was_ Seungcheol’s fault though if he made it harder on Jihoon to come to terms that this apparently well mannered boy was his Soulmate personality wise but not circumstance wise.

Seungcheol shuffled a little in his spot, looking around to make sure that someone hadn’t at some point wandered into their small privacy bubble they created in the remote corner of campus, his hands fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

Once he saw that the coast was clear, Seungcheol lifted his shirt up to be level with his sternum, revealing a Soulmark that sat in sharp contrast to his pale stomach.

“This one’s Jeonghan’s,” explains Seungcheol almost needlessly. Even from the few steps distance between them, Jihoon could tell it didn’t match his own. He didn’t spend almost every morning staring at it in the mirror not be able to distinguish at least that.

“Alright, and the other?” prompted Jihoon, childishly hoping that Seungcheol would suddenly change his mind and shout a ‘just kidding!’ instead, relieving that this had just been some sick joke.

That, of course, did not happen. Instead, Seungcheol dropped his shirt to then grab ahold of the waistband of his jeans.

“Okay, I just want to let you know that I’m not suddenly coming onto you. My second one — yours — is in a little more provocative place then my first,” jokes out Seungcheol in an attempt to make the atmosphere that had grown thick around them less serious. But Jihoon was as far from a joking mood that he could get.

But Seungcheol seemed to be waiting for a response none the less, hands now paused on the button, eyes asking for a confirmation out of Jihoon that what he was about to do wasn’t going to make him uncomfortable.

God. Why couldn’t Seungcheol just be a little less accommodating right now? He really needed _something_ to grab onto that would help Jihoon convince himself that his Soulmate was actually not meant for him. But so far, Seungcheol hadn’t provided anything in his actions. So far only the situation has given him hell and he really can’t fight that.

But Jihoon nods along with a small, “It’s okay,” just so Seungcheol would know for sure he was okay with the boy apparently needing to pull down his pants to show off his other Soulmark.

The snap of the button and the metal pull of the zipper is clearly heard in the silence between them, making the situation far more intimate than necessary.

Seungcheol had slid the front of his pants and boxers down just enough to show off the second Soulmark that sat on his skin, modestly keeping his dick hidden from view under the waistband.

But suddenly, Jihoon is blind to the fact that Seungcheol just had to pull down his pants to show off his Soulmark. There, as plain as day, really was a second Soulmark.

His line of sight unwavering, Jihoon brought himself forward, covering the distance that was between them in just a few steps.

Without thinking, Jihoon allowed his hand to come up and run his finger down Seungcheol’s skin and Soulmark, mirroring how he’s done so many times for his own. Jihoon paid no mind to when his finger brushed over some of the pubic hair that was in the way of the mark or to when Seungcheol’s hand had come up to grip Jihoon’s shoulder when he had first reached out to touch it.

But there was no mistaking it. Jihoon _knew_ that design. It was _his_ Soulmark’s design. And seeing it in the light of day, on someone else’s skin, was too much for Jihoon’s already overwhelmed mind.

Without either his permission or any warning, tears started to pool before overflowing to create wet streaks down Jihoon’s cheeks. He was too gone to wipe them away.

“Jihoon?” called out Seungcheol, voice bordering on slight panic when he caught glimpse of the tears.

Hearing Seungcheol’s voice snapped him out of the small spell that after seeing his Soulmark on someone else had put him under, flooding his mind with too many emotions, reaching a dangerous point.

_This was Jihoon’s Soulmate._

_Seungcheol was his Soulmate._

_Seungcheol had another Soulmate._

Suddenly, Jihoon ripped the hem of Seungcheol’s shirt up, eliciting a startled gasp out of Seungcheol, unprepared for Jihoon’s sudden actions.

Seeing _both_ of Seungcheol’s Soulmarks in full display was what finally broke Jihoon.

It was too much. Jihoon could no longer look at Seungcheol, see both his Soulmark and another’s on the same expanse of skin.

Jihoon turned without warning and started to march off. He wasn’t sure where he was going exactly, all he knew was that he needed to get _away_. Away from the boy that had been the cause of all these horrible emotions swirling around in both his head and stomach.

Jihoon vaguely heard Seungcheol cuss softly paired with the sound of Seungcheol’s zipper being ripped up before he felt his wrist being caught in a tight grip.

Jihoon was stopped in his tracks by Seungcheol tugging lightly on his wrist, but he refused to turn back and look at him, head hung low and bangs covering the majority of his eyes.

“Oh _god_ , I know that this probably isn’t ideal Jihoon,” Jihoon can’t help but bitterly think that that was the understatement of the year, “but please don’t run away. Let us talk about this, get to know each other?”

And Jihoon absolutely _detested_ that what Seungcheol was saying was exactly what he should have been doing. But the storm in his heart wouldn’t allow him to take Seungcheol’s advice.

So Jihoon ripped his wrist out of Seungcheol’s hold and tries once again to storm off. But apparently, Seungcheol wasn’t having it.

Because the next thing Jihoon feels is the slight sting of the brick wall of the science building digging into his back, Seungcheol’s arms coming up to cage Jihoon, pleading eyes looking straight into his own guarded ones.

“Let me go!” suddenly spits Jihoon, allowing his emotions take over and manifest in the form of anger. He was angry that Seungcheol wasn’t listening, not giving him what he wanted. Mad that he suddenly felt trapped and the pain in his heart was all too real and he _can’t_ deal with all these emotions at once, with Seungcheol’s eyes staring straight into his own.

“Not until we talk about this,” says Seungcheol, voice soft and pleasant, trying to get Jihoon to catch ahold and feed off his calming aura.

But Jihoon wasn’t having any of that. Jihoon brought his hands up to Seungcheol’s shoulders before he shoved them back as hard as he could. “I don’t want to talk about this! I want you to _let me go_!”

“Jihoon. Please calm down so we can talk,” pleaded Seungcheol, only mildly inconvenienced by Jihoon’s shove. But at this point, Jihoon was beyond reason.

“I don’t _know_ you!”

“Then let me get to know you.” Seungcheol lifted his hand from where it had been caging Jihoon to brush against his cheek. A gesture that was far too intimate to be done between strangers.

“You better back the fuck up right now,” said Jihoon, words full of venom, body seething.

His body's natural fight or flight senses were kicking into overdrive and Seungcheol wouldn’t allow Jihoon to flee.

Which left him with only one option left.

Jihoon reared his arm back as much as he could in the tiny space available and punched Seungcheol _hard_. It landing right in the junction where Seungcheol’s torso and shoulder met, and even Jihoon couldn’t not find the irony in the fact that he just _punched_ his Soulmate in the exact spot his Soulmark could be found on himself.

“Shit!— Jihoon?!” cries out Seungcheol, sounding much more surprised than actually hurt. But thanks to Jihoon’s punch, Seungcheol had dropped his hands to cover the spot he had just got hit, finally giving Jihoon his much-needed escape route.

And Jihoon’s never been the type to waste a perfectly good opportunity so he _gets the hell out of there_.

In his haste, Jihoon’s shoulder smacks hard into Seungcheol’s own, causing the taller boy to teeter back slightly from the impact. Jihoon had felt just how sturdy Seungcheol must be when they collided, and thanked his lucky stars that he’s been catching Seungcheol by surprise this whole time, since he’s pretty sure he wouldn’t have been able to push him around like he’s been doing without it.

So Jihoon runs. Runs as far as he could from his Soulmate.

Jihoon couldn’t have ever imagined that this was how their first meeting would have turned out.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeonghan stood naked in his relatively decent sized bathroom, right next to his recently discarded clothes. He kicks the pile off to the side, letting some of his pent up frustration with the situation be taken out on his clothes.

The chill of the bathroom paired with his sudden nakedness leaves a trail of goosebumps up his arms and down his spine. In the bright lighting, Jeonghan makes a note that his skin looks borderline sickly. Jeonghan hoped he could blame that on the lighting and not the situation he found himself in.

After the initial shock of said situation — finding out that he has a _second_ Soulmate — had ran its course, Jeonghan was left with only confusion and a small fizzle of irritation that burned just under his skin.

 _How_ could he have a second Soulmate?? He only has _one_ Soulmark. At least he’s like, 95 percent positive that he doesn’t. He’s fucking 21 for God’s sake, he would have at least _seen_ it by now.

Which is why Jeonghan finds himself freezing his ass off in his bathroom, butt naked. He needed to double check that he really doesn’t have a second Soulmark. He’s never heard of getting another later on in life, but Jeonghan can’t completely dismiss anything after the type of day he just had.

Jeonghan’s mind flashes back to the kid, his other _Soulmate_. Jeonghan couldn’t help but shiver slightly at that thought. The Kid had piercing eyes, the first thing that Jeonghan had noticed about the boy.

He’d never seen him around school before, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. The University wasn’t small, and it would have probably been crazier to think that you could recognize everyone that attended.

So he wasn’t too alarmed, hadn’t realized the danger when the unfamiliar boy had approached him. It was his request that put Jeonghan on edge.

It wasn’t per say that it was a _boy_ asking that caused that off put feeling in his mind. His own Soulmate was a boy after all, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t ever been propositioned before by other male students to test to see if they were Soulmates.

It was more the expression that the boy carried when he approached him that had set Jeonghan off.

Jeonghan knew his people reading skills were above the average and he took pride in that fact. So to see the glint of a scowl on The Kid’s face before it was smothered by his, begrudgingly admitted, beautiful smile, was the thing that told Jeonghan that this wasn’t going to be like how all the other propositions went.

Jeonghan knew that what he was doing to the female student body could be viewed as _immoral_ , but it honestly wasn’t his fault that the girls would take him up on his offer and actually pay to check their soulmate status.

Jeonghan had something to give and other students were willing to take; at a fair price. But the fact that he knew the product was no longer in stock, that was to be kept secret.

Well. He _thought_ that he was fresh out of Soulmate Companionship to sell, but the fact that he wasn’t was rudely shoved onto him in the form of a second Soulmate.

After finding out that Seungcheol had two Soulmarks, it nearly broke Jeonghan. It was rare enough that Jeonghan had never even let the idea flit across his mind to _check_ if Seungcheol had a second one when they first found out that they were Soulmates.

The fact that apparently Jeonghan also had a second Soulmate made him feel sick for a numerous amount of reasons. To suddenly get thrust into Soulmateship with someone else after thinking he had already found his only mate for life was one thing, but now he felt spectrally hypocritical after how much shit he’d given Seungcheol for this exact fact.

Jeonghan walked closer to the mirror, which inconveniently ends at waist height, before starting to scour his whole body for any signs of something new or off.

After a quick full body check, even going as far as bending slightly in front of the mirror embarrassingly to check his ass for said mark, before coming up empty.

Jeonghan couldn’t suppress the annoyed sigh as he rubs his hands hard over his face. Just because he couldn’t _find_ a second Soulmark doesn’t mean he could ignore what happened between him and The Kid.

Jeonghan vaguely thinks that he should probably stop referring to someone as important as his _Soulmate_ as ‘The Kid’ in his mind, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember if The Kid had even given his name when then first talked.

But he couldn’t deny the feeling that passed between them, no matter how much he hoped that it hadn’t. He had already experienced that feeling once before, and it wasn’t exactly a feeling one could forget.

With The Kid, it had been both the same but also _different_. He knew exactly what was going on the second the rush of bliss had entered his body, but the experience in and of itself was completely different from when he touched Seungcheol for the first time.

With Seungcheol, it had felt like pure happiness. The feeling of uncontainable laughter. Like the comfort found in sleeping in with no need to wake up, warmth of the blankets all encompassing.

Finding Seungcheol had been like coming home.

But with The Kid…. It had been an entirely new feeling. With him, it was like the rush of a secret rendezvous. The promises of something exciting and dangerous being whispered into your ear.

Touching him had been heavy with the promise of _something_ to come and borderline dirty.

And Jeonghan wouldn’t lie to himself. He _loved_ every second of it.

But right now wasn’t the time to contemplate just how different the experience had been between the two.

After a quick second look around his body, Jeonghan slumps slightly onto the counter before snatching his phone off the bathroom countertop. If he couldn’t find answers like this, he’s sure that _someone_ has tried to ask the same question he’s asking.

A quick google search of ‘Can you have a Soulmate without having a Soulmark?’ resulted in many question and answer forums asking varying forms of Jeonghan’s own question.

Jeonghan clicked on the first link that seems a little more promising than the others, claiming to have their questions answered by actual experts rather than just other people trying to be helpful.

The question at the top of the page read:

“PLEASE HELP. I’m pretty sure I just found my soulmate?? But our Soulmarks don’t match??? Is this a thing that happens or should I start to question what I just felt??”

Jeonghan couldn’t help but relate to every single one of those question marks used. He too was just a bundle full of question marks right now.

Scrolling a little down the page, Jeonghan read what the ‘expert’s’ answer was.

“Unfortunately, there has yet to be a reported case of someone finding a Soulmate whose Soulmarks do not match. But don’t let that discourage you; there are other options to be explored.

Consider the fact that you might have a second Soulmark. It is rare but not unfound. If you can’t find a second one upon initial search, don’t forget that Soulmarks aren’t always exclusive to just your skin. Try looking on your scalp or in your mouth. Soulmarks have a tendency to appear in more obvious places, but some do make their way onto places that are a little less obvious.”

Jeonghan squints at the reply, frowning as he reads it one more time. He didn’t check either of those places, not really realizing that they could be options.

Putting the phone down hastily, Jeonghan immediately starts to comb his fingers through his long hair, pushing it this way and that so he could get a glimpse at the skin underneath.

After about 5 minutes of awkward angles just so he can make sure he didn't miss anything, he comes out of that search with only the new information of having a mole on his head that he was previously not privy to before.

He moves onto his mouth next, turning the insides of his cheeks out with a finger so he could see clearly if there are any black markings he somehow missed in the last 3 years of his life.

Spotless of anything strange, Jeonghan pulls down his lip harshly before allowing it to snap back up. He was starting to feel a little strange, still standing stark naked in his bathroom, investigation his own mouth.

As a last ditch effort, Jeonghan tilts his head back sharply before opening his mouth wide so he can get a clear view in the mirror.

What he finds has his insides freezing up.

“Holy fucking hell,” breathes out Jeonghan in disbelief.

Because right on the roof of his mouth, had been a second Soulmark.

He _cannot_ tell Seungcheol about this.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seungcheol stares at the front door of his and Jeonghan’s shared apartment, almost tempted to just turn around and go find somewhere else to stay for the night. But just because Jihoon had ended up running from him didn’t mean that he should punish his other Soulmate needlessly.

So Seungcheol squared his shoulders before shaking out his arms a little, deciding right then that he wasn’t going to let the Jihoon incident show.

Seungcheol then produced his house key from his pocket before pulling open the door, greeted to no one on the other side.

Which was slightly odd, since Jeonghan had called him earlier, saying that he was going to ditch the rest his classes today and head home, so to not wait around for him.

The action wasn’t too out of the ordinary for Jeonghan, who was naturally lazy, thus skipping classes wasn’t too strange of behavior.

“Jeonghan?” called Seungcheol.

“In here,” replied a muffled voice in the direction of their shared room. Seungcheol slips off his shoes before putting his backpack down, making his way into the room only to be greeted by the sight of a fully naked Jeonghan.

“Hmm,” hums Seungcheol contemplatively as he takes in the sight, “this is new.”

Seungcheol watches as the Jeonghan rolls his eyes, but otherwise, ignores his words as he bends down to retrieve and put back on his clothes.

“Not that I’m complaining,” continues Seungcheol as he takes a seat on the bed, “but why the no clothes?”

“...it was hot,” came Jeonghan’s soft explanation.

If it had been any other day, Seungcheol might have actually pressed him on just how bad of an explanation that had been. But instead, Seungcheol dropped it, his mind occupied with other things.

First things first, Seungcheol needed to find a way to get into contact with Jihoon. He can’t remember if he’s ever seen the boy around school before, but his face was unrecognizable enough that Seungcheol figured that they didn’t have any classes together.

But Seungcheol had an idea in the works, something Jihoon said that Seungcheol could use to figure out how to find him once again in such a large University.

Seungcheol watches as Jeonghan walks by him on the way out of the room, barely catching that Jeonghan just asked why he’s home so early.

And for a second, Seungcheol contemplates telling Jeonghan about finding his second Soulmate. He opens his mouth, ready to explain that he wasn’t really feeling up to the rest of his classes after the experience he just had, but finds himself shutting it at the last moment.

From experience, Seungcheol knows just how bad Jeonghan can get just at the implied mention of his second Soulmate. He could only imagine the shit storm that would happen if he told him that he actually _found_ him.

Seungcheol needs time to sort out everything with Jihoon first before getting around to telling Jeonghan. He couldn’t imagine having _two_ Soulmates mad at him at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lot's of craziness, I know. And I'm (slightly) sorry. But hopefully, I'll get into the swing of updating this story more often now that I've acquainted myself with the story plot again!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and feel free to come and talk to me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/NeonNitrogen)!


	5. Seungcheol Who?

Come the next morning, Jihoon finds himself waking from barely any sleep in the same bed, in the same room that’s he’s been waking up in for the last 2 years of his University life.

Uncharacteristically, he wakes easily, feeling a new and unfamiliar heavy weight on his shoulders. As he takes in his surrounding, he realizes that physically nothing has changed. But emotionally? Too much had changed.

What was he supposed to do when the only thing he’s been conditioned to look forward to in life is given to him but then ripped right out of his hands the second he received it?

Nothing.

There is nothing for him to do besides _maybe_ —big emphasis on maybe—bawl his eyes out before going back to what Jihoon must now call his life.

Jihoon sighs heavily before pushing the sheets off his body, forcing his limbs out of his soft bed and into the harsh reality that was the next day of his life.

Jihoon can’t help but sigh again at his melodramatic thoughts, but he really couldn’t help it. The tear stains on his pillow had seemed to have only dried a few minutes ago, finally removing the last traces of unadulterated pain he felt throughout the night.

And he was determined to keep it that way. Determined to return to his usual life routine, denying any and all things that happened on yesterday's date.

Jihoon’s been preparing his whole life to be disappointed by his Soulmate. So why had it come as such a harsh blow to him emotionally?

Maybe it was because he had been secretly holding onto the hope that his Soulmate would change his previous perspective on the whole Soulmate thing.

Or maybe it was because it was all so sudden. Jihoon had yet to ever deal with such an onslaught of emotions in such a small amount of time.

He really couldn’t make a very decisive answer on the matter, but it really didn’t matter now. He’s made the decision to suck it up and move on to the next chapter of his life, without a Soulmate. He has too much pride to even consider the idea of sharing a Soulmate with someone. He just wasn’t that kind of person.

So, with the kind of energy that can only be found after a good emotional breakdown then rebuild, Jihoon continued on with his day, determined to leave all this silly Soulmate stuff behind him.

Seungcheol who? That was Jihoon’s new life motto.

So Jihoon continued on with his morning routine like he hadn’t just cried most of the night away. He first picked out his clothes with sloppy finesse, unceremoniously throwing them onto the bed when chosen before heading to the bathroom to turn on his shower to heat up.

When Jihoon faced the mirror, his hand froze mid-reach for his toothbrush when his eyes landed on his Soulmark.

Jihoon took a self-comforting deep — albeit shaky — breath before having his hand redirect from its earlier path from the toothbrush to his Soulmark. He allowed his finger to run a familiar path down the black markings that marred his skin, surprised that the motion felt both familiar and foreign at the same time.

The slight sting of tears was threatening Jihoon’s eyes again, but like hell was he going to allow himself to backtrack when he had music composition class in about an hour.

So Jihoon made the mental note to start wearing a shirt to bed before returning to his earlier task of brushing his teeth, keeping his gaze pointedly at face level.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Music composition was surprisingly quiet. Neither he nor Jisoo brought up yesterday and neither boy seemed to have anything of interest to talk about with each other.

When the end of class had finally arrived, and the sounds of shuffling papers and backpack zippers filled the air, was when Jihoon caught a glimpse of something he never thought he would ever see again.

“Why do you still have Jeonghan’s class schedule?” asked Jihoon, much too curious to let it go.

“Oh,” started Jisoo, sounding surprisingly meek. It set warning bells off in Jihoon’s head, causing a small frown to settle into his lips. “I need to find him again.”

Jihoon lifted his worried gaze from the paper to Jisoo. Why on earth would he need to go find him again?

“Did something happen after I left?” asked Jihoon, straight to the point. Something must have happened if Jisoo was practically claiming that Jeonghan was the devil's son not only yesterday but was now actively seeking the boy without a hint of his earlier malice.

Jisoo let out a small sigh, his shoulders slumping a bit. Before he could answer, the teacher must have dismissed the class, for the room was suddenly filled with chairs scraping against the floor.

Jisoo took one glance around them before hastily grabbing his stuff together, sending a small, “I’ll tell you when we get out of class,” at Jihoon. He simply nods before pulling together his own things, a small seed of worry now growing in his stomach.

If Jeonghan had done something horrible, he would have heard about it before just now, right? Jisoo wasn’t the type to hide things, and Soonyoung _definitely_ wasn’t the type. Jihoon’s almost a hundred percent positive that he would have at least got a text about it if this was really something he needed to worry about.

Still, the faraway look in Jisoo’s eyes the whole class period was now coming back to haunt Jihoon with a vengeance, and he silently curses himself for not being a better friend.

Jihoon follows Jisoo out of the class easily, allowing Jisoo to pick where he wanted to stop and explain. They reach the exit of the building before Jisoo walks over to a bench that was located nearby.

Jihoon watches at Jisoo takes a seat before promptly letting his head fall into his hands, a wail of, “But what am I supposed to do??” being groaned into his palms.

Jihoon shifts nervously in his spot, standing next to the hunched over Jisoo. Maybe Jihoon was going to regret his decision to try and be a better friend. Doing that came with responsibilities, such as _comforting_ said friend. Not Jihoon’s strong suit.

“...What happened?” asked Jihoon, not really sure as to why Jisoo seemed like he needed to be comforted.

Jisoo’s head snapped up, causing Jihoon to jump slightly. Jisoo’s eyes bore into his own, looking thoroughly lost and confused.

“I found my Soulmate.” There was a small light that seemed to spark in Jisoo’s eyes the second he uttered that, almost like he was just reminded of how astonishing that sentence actually was.

“Can you believe it Jihoon? I finally found my Soulmate... I’ve been anticipating this day for so long…” And the small lull after his words carried a weight to it, letting Jihoon know that what came next wasn’t going to be anything good.

“And it’s Jeonghan,” finished Jihoon for him. It didn’t take a genius to connect as to why Jisoo brought up his Soulmate when Jihoon had simply asked about why he had Jeonghan’s schedule.

“ _Yes!_ ,” cried Jisoo, now rubbing his face with his hands, “It’s Jeonghan. So I need to find him and talk with him again. Sort out the whole Soulmate business.”

Jihoon felt queasy as he listened to Jisoo. Was what he was saying really true? How could Jeonghan be Jisoo’s Soulmate _and_ Seungcheol’s? Did both Seungcheol and Jeonghan have two Soulmarks?

“...Are you sure?” squeaked out Jihoon. He _knew_ that Jeonghan was Seungcheol’s Soulmate. He needed to tell Jisoo if he was sure what he was saying was true.

Jisoo stopped his fussing to stare at Jihoon incredulously. Which really wasn’t unwarranted, since Jihoon had just asked their resident Soulmate expert if they were _sure_ they had found their Soulmate.

“ _Of course_ I’m sure! Why would I start spouting nonsense about _Jeonghan_ of all people being my Soulmate if I wasn’t _sure_ ,” cried Jisoo, obviously distraught over what he just said.

Jihoon couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh. For some odd reason, Jihoon had let a quick thought of asking Seungcheol to help out with this flit across his mind, since having all four people involved in this crazy Soulmate square talk it out was probably the smartest route to take.

But then Jihoon remembered. Seungcheol who?

So Jihoon just looked down at his close friend, who honestly was starting to look very close to dropping some tears at any second. And Jihoon could barely deal with his own tears, let alone someone else's.

Jihoon let his hand fall onto Jisoo’s shoulder, hopefully in a reassuring manner. He really had no idea what else he was supposed to do in this situation. Jihoon was probably simultaneously the worst and the best person to offer Jisoo advice on how to deal with the situation, seeing as how Jihoon was right there with him, almost in the exact same boat that Jisoo was in.

But maybe not? Maybe Jisoo didn’t exactly know yet just how much this situation was going to suck for him. Obviously, their meeting as Soulmates must not have been all that great, if Jisoo needed Jeonghan’s schedule just so they can talk again.

So just _how much_ did Jisoo know? Did he know that Jeonghan had another Soulmate? Or was his understand on the situation limited to just thinking that Jeonghan was apparently an unwilling Soulmate, thus making it so that Jisoo had to hunt him down.

But if Jihoon actually wanted to get any of these answers from Jisoo, he would have to explain as to just _why_ he knew to ask these questions. Which meant that Jihoon would have to tell Jisoo that Seungcheol and Jeonghan were apparently Soulmate. Which in turn meant he would have to explain that Seungcheol and himself were _also_ Soulmates, ultimately resulting in a huge awkward shit storm if Jisoo wasn’t already privy to some of this information.

But again like a mantra, the words ‘Seungcheol who?’ came to mind, and any thoughts of letting Jisoo in on the fact that he had found his Soulmate, who was coincidentally Soulmate's with Jisoo’s Soulmate, were dropped from the spectrum of possibility. Which meant, in conclusion, Jihoon was apparently deciding to stay a horrible friend for a longer time period then that was probably healthy just to keep his ass sitting pretty and as drama free as he could be in this situation.

“So what are you going to do?” is all Jihoon can muster to say, causing Jisoo’s head to fall once again into his awaiting palms.

“I dunno,” said Jisoo with an accenting shrug, “force him to listen and hear me out? There is only so much one person can do to avoid the other when you are their Soulmate and you have their class schedule,” joked Jisoo at the end, realizing that Jihoon was probably uncomfortable with how emotional he was being.

So with that Jisoo took a deep breath, stood and squared his shoulders, before turning to make his way to Jeonghan. As he walked off, Jisoo cast over his shoulder a halfhearted explanation that he wasn’t going to head to lunch with the rest of them today since he was going to try and catch Jeonghan at the tail end of his class.

But Jisoo’s earlier words struck an unsuspecting chord in Jihoon. It hit too close to home, seeing as how Jihoon was trying to avoid his own Soulmate. The only thing saving Jihoon from maybe having another breakdown right then and there was the fact that Seungcheol had no possible way of gaining possession of his class schedule.

 

 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Fairy**

**\-- Why aren’t you at lunch? **

** \-- Mingyu and Wonwoo are away and Jisoo has lunch plans **

** \-- Meaning it was just going to be me and you for lunch **

** \-- But apparently not, since YOU AREN’T HERE **

** \-- This is what I get for trying to be a normal friend and join said other friend for lunch **

** \-- They don’t show up **

Soonyoung couldn’t help but sigh at the string of messages that were blowing up his phone from Jihoon. He had his chin resting heavily on his hand, arm propped up on the reception like desk he was sitting at, gaze low as he watched the messages flow in. How was he going to find the best way to placate Jihoon about how he was called in to cover at the administration office last second?

** 10OutOf10 **

** Sorry bro, responsibilities decided to bite me in the ass last minute -- ** ****

** Which roughly translates to getting called into work last second because some freshman can’t find the 30 second it takes to wash his hands on the regular so he could avoid getting sick -- **

Soonyoung paused himself, about halfway through typing another message to Jihoon.

** But I’m not surprised to hear that Jisoo ditched lun -- **

His finger rested on the delete button, watching as the few words he had typed out disappear with a deep sigh. He could already feel the phantom headache he would have gotten from Jisoo if he ended up telling Jihoon about The Incident.

Capitalized for importance in Soonyoung’s mind, The Incident replayed in Soonyoung’s mind’s eye. Which in reality was just him apparently missing all the action by only approaching Jisoo _after_ Jeonghan had walked away.

As a common courtesy (and that fact that it would have been a hindrance to their plan if he was too close), Soonyoung had stood far enough away that he really couldn’t make out the words being exchanged. If he had known what was really happening, he would have busted in there in a heartbeat.

Soonyoung hadn’t really gotten a very coherent explanation, which he really didn’t blame Jisoo for, given the circumstances, but Soonyoung had gotten the gist of it.

It being that Jeonghan was apparently Jisoo’s long-awaited Soulmate, who had just turned tail and ran into the depths that was their very large university.

All Soonyoung could think of doing was to give Jisoo a reassuring pat on the back, along with handing over the heavily creased paper that was Jeonghan’s schedule with the words of, “You’re going to need this.”

Soonyoung had yet to know the woes that came along with Soulmateship, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t at least try and sympathize with them. Which was really the main reason as to why he was keeping the promise that Jisoo made him make about keeping the whole ordeal under wraps. Something about how he would figure it out soon, since it was his Soulmate and all that jazz.

Soonyoung was just thinking that Jihoon was taking his sweet ass time with replying even after complaining so much to him when he heard the office door open. The movement had chimed a handmade bell that some cute freshman had probably thought was a good idea to sling onto the door so it would ring in warning to any visitors.

Soonyoung glanced up a minimally as he could, only casting his eyes up to get a look at the poor unfortunate soul that found themselves needing to visit the dreaded administration office.

**10OutOf10 **

**  Aww shit, you’ll never guess who just walked in -- **

**  Tall, dark, and painfully thicc just did -- **

**  I.e. Seungcheol, seeing as I know you will need a translation for that -- **

Said boy had just finished glancing around, looking awfully confused, before making his decision to walk up to Soonyoung’s slightly off to the side desk. Soonyoung had to give the guy a small amount of props, though, since it took him a much shorter amount of time than the usual student to figure out where to go. Soonyoung knows; he’s timed them all before.

“Gooood afternoon,” drawls out Soonyoung, as he lifts his head up from his hand, if only because being visited by Seungcheol a day after The Incident was probably too well timed to be coincidental. It definitely peaked his interest, which warranted at least 85% of his attention.

“Hi,” says Seungcheol a bit awkwardly, accompanied by a just as awkward wave, “I know this might be a weird question but is a student by the name Soonyoung here?”

Soonyoung sat up straighter in his seat. Alright, so now 97% interested.

“I am he,” answers Soonyoung, his eyebrow raised in a nonverbal question as to just why Seungcheol was asking for him.

“Oh good, it was easier finding you than I thought,” said Seungcheol, obviously talking to himself. But that didn’t mean Soonyoung wasn’t going to answer to it, though.

“You got lucky actually, I’m not usually around at this time.” Seungcheol just nods along to that.

“Awesome, well,” Seungcheol paused again, just in time for Soonyoung’s phone to buzz loudly against the table top. Both boys glance down to read the name ‘Fairy’ written across the caller ID. Soonyoung promptly hits the power button to cut off the call vibrations before pocketing the phone, effectively neutralizing any more distractions.

Soonyoung was already familiar with the fact that Jihoon wasn’t an ‘I’ll leave a message, get back to me as soon as you can’ kind of guy. His phone will probably be ringing until he finally picked up, but at least the vibrating ringtone wouldn’t be nearly as distracting in his pocket compared to on the desktop.

Soonyoung looks up to the confused face of Seungcheol. “I’ll call back after we’re done talking,” explained Soonyoung easily, while simultaneously reminding Seungcheol that he apparently had business to address with Soonyoung.

“Alright, well. There’s no easy way to go about asking this…” trailed off Seungcheol, his eyes drifting off to the side.

“Just get on with it,” prompts Soonyoung, his patience waning as Seungcheol takes his sweet time. His phone buzzes to life in his pocket again, only serving as a further annoyance.

“But I need Jihoon’s class schedule,” finished Seungcheol in a huff of breath like he couldn’t get the sentence out fast enough.

“And may I ask _why_ you would need Jihoon’s schedule?” asked Soonyoung almost sarcastically. Just when Soonyoung thought that recent events couldn’t get any weirder, they go and prove him wrong.

When Jihoon had disappeared with Seungcheol, Soonyoung had thought it was just a matter of job well done and didn’t ponder anymore on it, especially after the news Jisoo had given him. But apparently, there was more to this story yet to be flushed out.

“.....Because we’re Soulmates,” answers Seungcheol almost uncomfortably, like he himself had yet to fully come to terms with what he just said, “And he ended up running off before I could get his number or address or anything really, so I have no way of contacting him. But I remembered him saying something about having a friend who worked in the administration office and I thought, perfect! A connection to someone he knows, plus the ability to help me out...”

Soonyoung stared blankly as Seungcheol continued to ramble, most definitely something that came about since he was nervous. The guy hadn’t stopped fidgeting in his spot since he walked up to Soonyoung desk, and if Soonyoung’s eyes weren’t deceiving him, he could see the telltale signs of sweat starting to form on Seungcheol’s brow.

“So you’re telling me that you and Jihoon are Soulmates?” interrupted Soonyoung almost harshly, but he really wasn’t in the mood to entertain this boy’s nervousness when he just dropped a bomb right in Soonyoung’s lap.

Soonyoung honestly couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The coincidence of both Jisoo _and_ Jihoon finding their Soulmates on the exact same day was astronomically improbable. But Soonyoung has read about crazier things happening on the internet, so he really can’t dismiss what Seungcheol was saying right away. Plus, what would Seungcheol be getting out of _lying_ about being Jihoon’s Soulmate? It’s not like you can fake that kind of thing.

“Yes,” answered Seungcheol with a small nod, “And I would really appreciate if you helped a brother out.”

Seungcheol still looked nervous, but there was a small edge starting to surface in his eyes, almost like with the more he voiced his Soulmate status with Jihoon, the more determined he was getting.

“...You know what?” says Soonyoung as he reached for his mouse, clicking on it a few times, “I’ll actually help you out.”

Seungcheol face lights up at the news.

“But only!” interrupts Soonyoung as the printer behind him roars to life before spitting out a single piece of paper, “Because I think this is best for Jihoon, if what you’re saying _is_ actually true.”

“And what if it’s not?” asks Seungcheol as he takes a hold of the paper Soonyoung had just handed over.

“Then I’ll just be helping to ruin Jihoon’s day, and I’m behind on my quota for this month.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man... Rereading this was a slight pain and I hope I don't end up confusing anyone with some of the wording I used, but honestly I'm too lazy to rewrite anything...
> 
> But thank you so much for reading and I hope you look forward to the next chapter!


	6. Pleading

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been brought to you by an ridiculous amount of italics and lots of melodramatics.

“What am I doing…?” muttered Jisoo from his crouched position on the floor, resting most of his weight against the wall behind him.

Currently, Jisoo found himself a mere 2 doors down from the one that Jeonghan was supposedly residing in if the schedule that he had was correct. (If Jeonghan hadn’t decided to skip class, which was highly probable.)

Even more currently, Jisoo was halfway to a worrisome freak out over what he was doing. Just _why_ was he squatting in a school building that he’s never had a reason to enter before today? Why did he have a very crumpled piece of paper (which was getting more crumpled by the second in his tight grip) that outlined Jeonghan’s full class schedule in his hands?

Oh yes, because he was trying to talk to his Soulmate. The one that ran away from him. Who happened to be one of the school’s most desirable bachelor’s, the school’s ‘angel’, the one boy that most of the student body could only dream of being a Soulmate with. The one and only boy that Jisoo hated.

Jisoo shook his head hard, trying to physically dislodge the thought process before it when too far. He was just going to dig himself a self-pity hole if he kept at it.

Jisoo sighed and finally allowed his complete weight to fall against the wall before sliding down to sit on the probably disgusting school floor. But right now, Jisoo’s need for stability outweighed his need for cleanliness.

Maybe coming to confront him so soon was a bad idea? It hadn’t even been a full 24 hours since he found out that Jeonghan (of all people) was his lifelong, destined partner.

If Jisoo had read the situation correctly, Jeonghan hadn't known that the possibility of him having a second Soulmate could happen. If he'd known, he probably wouldn't have been running his ‘side business’, let alone the fact that the boy seemed to have had a mental breakdown yesterday. So it was safe of Jisoo to assume that Jeonghan probably hadn't yet come to terms with Jisoo being his Soulmate.

Jisoo knows that he was having trouble with that fact himself, and he only has one Soulmark and one Soulmate.

But there was a small voice in the back of his head, one that sounded irritatingly a lot like Jihoon mocking his own voice. It said things like, “You can’t choose your Soulmate.” and “You get what you get.” None of it was really helping, but Jisoo was trying to let it help.

Jisoo was halfway to convincing himself that no, this was too soon and he needed to get the hell out of there before he made any mistakes when the loud bang of the classroom door hitting the wall resounded into the previously quiet hallway.

Jisoo sprang to his feet just as the first few students started to trickle out of the classroom. He was hit with a distinct sense of deja vu of the day before, but this wasn’t the science building, and Jisoo wasn’t trying to figure out if Jeonghan had been scamming the student body.

He knew too much now and too much had changed and this was too soon for Jisoo and probably for Jeonghan but Jisoo had just made eye contact with Jeonghan and it was too late now.

Without really making the conscious command to do so, Jisoo’s feet started to trail after Jeonghan, who hadn’t even paused his steps at the sight of Jisoo. But Jisoo saw the recognition in his eyes and hell, this was Jisoo’s Soulmate. Just because Jeonghan apparently had two doesn’t mean that Jisoo had a back up one too. He needed to take what he could get while he could, so Jisoo followed after Jeonghan even if the other boy didn’t want him to.

It wasn’t hard to catch up since it seemed like Jeonghan didn’t really want to make a scene by sprinting out of the building.

“We need to talk,” were the first words out of Jisoo’s mouth when he finally made it next to Jeonghan.

Suddenly, Jeonghan stopped his swift steps, startling Jisoo into misstepping a bit in his haste to also stop.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” asked Jeonghan, voice a little too tight to pass off as ignorant.

“Don’t be like that,” scolded Jisoo lightly, already regretting coming here in the first place. His poor heart can only take so much beating, and to get treated as someone of insignificance by his Soulmate was almost too much to bare.

Jeonghan pursed his lips before swiping his tongue out to wet them. Jisoo watched as he took a deep breath, his stance falling into a more composed one.

“....Sorry, I don’t _want_ to be mean.” Jeonghan paused before looking around, taking note that there were no more students around to hear his next words. “But I guess I should at least tell you. I already have a Soulmate—”

“Yeah, you didn’t spare me that information during our introduction,” muttered Jisoo, trying to show Jeonghan that he can’t push him around like he was trying to do.

“And it’s Seungcheol,” continued Jeonghan like Jisoo hadn’t just interrupted him, “And I’m _happy_. I didn’t know until yesterday that I apparently have a second Soulmark, but I was happy without the idea and I was happy without _you._ ” Jeonghan punctuated his words with a sharp jab to Jisoo’s sternum.

Jisoo knocked his hand away, trying to give his shaking hands something to do. “For someone who just said they weren’t trying to be mean, you’re doing a pretty bad job at doing that.”

Once again, Jeonghan seemed to go through a few steps to calm himself down, even rubbing his hands over his face a bit this time around.

“Okay,” started Jeonghan as he ran his fingers through his long hair, fixing a few flyaway hairs, “...What was your name again?” asked Jeonghan, almost sounding regretful that he had to ask.

Jisoo’s lip twitched. How could this boy be his Soulmate? Had something gone wrong when he was born? On his 18th birthday? Something must have gone wrong.

“It’s Jisoo,” answered Jisoo as calmly as he could. It honestly took a lot of effort.

“Alright, Jisoo,” started Jeonghan, “I’ll just say it one last time then. I have a Soulmate and I don’t want or need another one. So have a nice life.”

Jeonghan then promptly turned on his heel and started to walk away.

And suddenly the only color Jisoo’s eyes could recognize was red. He saw a flash of Jeonghan’s hair when he turned away and then Jeonghan’s back and then the only things he could register was that he was upset and mad and Jisoo really didn’t know what to do.

How could his Soulmate treat him like he was dirt under his shoe? Treat him like a piece of junk that Jeonghan was ready and eager to throw into the closet, or even the dumpster, willing to forget that Jisoo had ever even come into his life?

In that moment, Jisoo no longer was looking at Jeonghan as a Soulmate. Jisoo couldn’t accept the fact that his Soulmate would just throw him away and suddenly this wasn’t Jisoo dealing with an uncooperative Soulmate anymore. This was Jisoo dealing with Jeonghan who had just taken every value and dream and fantasy that Jisoo had while growing up and ripped it to shreds.

Jisoo wouldn’t allow it.

So before Jeonghan could even register Jisoo’s hand on his arm, Jisoo’s grip tightened before pulling.

It was all a huge blur to Jisoo, who was acting on pure instinct. All he knew was that Jeonghan wasn’t about to get away with ruining Jisoo’s _everything_ , without even a glance spared to poor Jisoo as he left him in pieces.

Through the fog of anger, Jisoo heard the dull thud of something hitting against the hallway wall.

When Jisoo had finished physically lashing out, he found himself leaning over Jeonghan, who he trapped against the wall he just threw him against. Jisoo had his body pressed in close, making sure that Jeonghan couldn't try and leave again.

Jeonghan looked just as stunned as Jisoo was at the turn of events, but Jisoo’s own surprise was quickly overshadowed by his anger.

“Do you think that this is fucking easy for me?” hissed out Jisoo, voice low with venom. “Do you think it’s easy to hear that their one and only Soulmate _doesn’t want you?_ ”

At that Jeonghan’s face seemed to pale a bit, but Jisoo wasn’t done.

“I’ve been waiting for this day, actually. Had spent hours, days, maybe even _weeks_ , learning about Soulmates and Soulmarks and just daydreaming about that day I would finally meet _you._ ”

Jisoo looked at Jeonghan up and down, but he came back from it with a look of contempt on his face.

“ _Jeonghan_ . The boy that everyone thinks is perfect. The boy everyone wants. The boy I _hated_ for pissing on the values that I kept precious and dear by tricking the school into _paying_ to see if they could see if they were Soulmates with you. Not only that, then there’s a rumor that you _already had a Soulmate_? Which turned out to be _true?_ ”

Jisoo’s tongue felt heavy in his mouth, unused to saying so many hateful words.

“And now. Now I’ve found you. My Soulmate. Only to have him run away from me, apparently _already happy_ with his other Soulmate.”

Jisoo was leaning almost dangerously close now, breath and words intermingling with Jeonghan’s own breath, who was looking much less scared but a lot more hurt. It only spurred Jisoo on more.

“And this hasn’t been easy Jeonghan. Putting aside my initial feelings for you and deciding to try and make this work. Because, unlike you, _I have no one else_ . You are who I got and I’m going to have to deal with it. The least I can even ask of you is to give me a _chance_ , since I’m giving you one.”

Jisoo was panting, chest heaving from his spent emotions and lost breath. All these thoughts that had been pressuring up in his mind ever since he found out that Jeonghan was his Soulmate, and this was him finally letting everything out.

Before, Jisoo wouldn’t allow these thoughts to even surface because he was a gentleman, and he didn't want to consciously think so wrongly of his Soulmate. But this was the cork finally popping after too much pressure had built up.

“I guess I deserved that, didn’t I?” finally spoke up Jeonghan after he realized that Jisoo was coming down from his high.

“That’s an understatement,” spit out Jisoo, but his voice had lost its earlier sting. Jisoo had said his piece and all that was left now was to take a step back, allowing both of them to have their own bubble of air again.

When Jeonghan was allowed enough room, he reached up and started to straighten out his rumpled shirt, regaining his lost composure.

Jisoo mirrored him, even going as far as trying to fix his hair a bit. He was finished with his outburst and was now coming down from the high of his emotions, his vision once again clear. With all he wanted to say now said, Jisoo was left feeling just a bit weird for it and slightly confused that Jeonghan hadn’t even tried to defend himself once throughout the whole thing.

“Well,” finally spoke up Jeonghan after he was satisfied with how his shirt was laying against his torso, “Where do we even go from here?”

“What do you mean?”

Jeonghan motioned at the space between them.

“Like, with us. Like you said, we _are_ Soulmates and I’m not going to try and deny that. But so far, all we’ve accomplished in the time we’ve interacted was me trying to avoid you and you yelling at me.”

Jeonghan looked marginally put out, and his stance had most of his weight on one foot. Jisoo was standing in a hallway that he has never visited before today with a boy that he had only ever talked to twice and despite that he’s already yelled at him and Jeonghan has already made him feel like the most insignificant thing in the world and somehow, when Jisoo added all that together, the equation ended with Jisoo starting to laugh.

Jisoo was laughing and this was suddenly the funniest thing in the world to him. He couldn’t have imagined having to go through everything he had just gone through a week ago, so maybe that was part of why he thought this was funny.

Or maybe it was the fact that Jeonghan had just asked what they were supposed to do now, which meant that he was apparently giving Jisoo a chance even though he wanted nothing to do with him 10 minutes ago but apparently Jisoo yelling at him had actually convinced him instead of pushing him even farther into the void that Jisoo feared he was going to lose Jeonghan to after he had lost control of his emotions.

Or maybe it was the look Jeonghan had given him, looking only mildly inconvenienced after Jisoo had just said some of the worst words that have ever left his mouth at him. Or it might be the look that Jeonghan was currently giving him, like he was mad and half way ready for a straight jacket. Whatever it was, Jisoo was laughing and he guesses Jeonghan must have found some humor somewhere in there too because he started to laugh too, albeit in a much calmer way when compared to Jisoo, but that was okay.

“You know what?” said Jisoo after he finally was able to calm himself down, stomach aching with a new set of abs, “I don’t think I hate you.”

“Oh good,” said Jeonghan, a small smirk still on his lips, “Because I was really worried about that for a while now.”

And again, it was funny. Jisoo laughed and Jeonghan laughed and it was pretty dark humor but apparently Jisoo didn’t hate Jeonghan and Jeonghan apparently didn’t hate him. When compared to past events, this was the best they’ve gotten along since knowing each other and Jisoo was happy for that.

“Maybe we could start by exchanging numbers?” finally provided Jisoo. He was leaning up against the wall now, haven’t sought out stability somewhere during his laughing fit.

Jeonghan looked up from where he was standing, a small quirk of his eyebrow catching Jisoo’s attention.

“Asking for my number already? I usually don’t put out so easily,” remarked Jeonghan, but he was already reaching back to retrieve his phone out of his pocket.

“I would say that letting strangers check to see if they are your Soulmate is a little more out putting then asking for a number,” quipped back Jisoo. Jeonghan had just handed over his phone and Jisoo was handing over his own, his fingers easily inputting his number to the unfamiliar phone.

“Yeah, but I at least got money out of that one.”

Jisoo could feel his lip twitch at the reminder but he let it go. He tried to remind himself that it wasn’t like Jeonghan had forced people to give him money, they were the ones who were willing to pay. (Didn’t make what he did okay, though.)

They traded back phones and Jisoo couldn't really think of a nickname he could give Jeonghan’s number just yet, so he simply named it ‘J’ before saving it.

Jeonghan hadn’t quite finished saving Jisoo’s number when he spoke up again.

“...Could you keep us being Soulmates a secret for now?” Jeonghan must have seen the flash of hurt pass over Jisoo’s face, because he was scrambling to explain, “ I haven’t even told Seungcheol about you yet, and I kinda gave him a lot of shit in the past about him having a second Soulmark.”

This caught Jisoo’s attention, his passion for all things Soulmate related rising back up. “Seungcheol has a second Soulmark too?”

Having a second Soulmark wasn’t rare to the point of being unheard of, but it definitely shocked Jisoo to hear that Seungcheol apparently also had a second one. The probability of not only Jeonghan but also Seungcheol having two made Jisoo curious as to what they could really mean.

Jeonghan was still looking down at his phone, but Jisoo suspected that he was finished with it already.

“...Yeah, and he hasn’t found his other Soulmate yet. I know that it would hurt him if he heard about me having a second one, and I wasn’t exactly nice to him about the idea of his second Soulmate, so I would like to keep this quiet for a bit. Maybe until he finds his second one...” Jeonghan paused there, seeming to think over the words he just said, “I’m just a huge hypocrite, aren’t I?”

“....I don’t know you or the situation well enough to make a comment on if I think you are one or not.” Jisoo looked off to the side, “Yet, at least.”

Jeonghan seemed grateful for Jisoo’s words.

But soon the solemn atmosphere they had fell under was ruined by Jeonghan pushing at Jisoo’s shoulder playfully.

“And this is coming from someone who said they _hated_ me before even meeting me?” But Jeonghan’s words were light, and there was a playful light in his eyes so Jisoo just rubbed his shoulder like Jeonghan’s shove actually hurt.

The pair finally decided that hanging out in a deserted school building wasn’t the place to be, so they made their way out together, continuing their back and forth banter. But this time around, instead of their small quips being said like a slap, they were said with mirth added to their voices.

The whole situation was a little strange but Jisoo could deal with a little strange. It was better than what they had been and it seems that Jisoo could take what he could get with it came to Jeonghan.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Why did you take so long to answer?” came Jihoon’s harsh words through the speaker of Soonyoung’s phone.

Soonyoung had just watched the door to the administration office close behind Seungcheol when he pulled out his phone to finally answer Jihoon.

Soonyoung debated just telling him that he was busy with Seungcheol, but Jihoon was apparently keeping secrets and Soonyoung liked to think that he had a knack for figuring out secrets.

Over the years, Soonyoung had perfected his art, and by doing so he has learned that if you wanted to know something, you never played all your cards before your opponent had.

And he knew Jihoon. Years of friendship didn't happen without figuring out a thing or two and a thing that Soonyoung knew was that Jihoon had a tendency to keep important things to himself.

But Soonyoung seemed to always figure out just what it was that Jihoon was hiding one way or another.

“Hmm, who knows?” replied Soonyoung with a bit of a tilt to his words. He couldn't keep the shit-eating grin off his face though, so he was grateful that this was a phone call.

“Don't act like you're innocent,” reprimanded Jihoon, “Why was Seungcheol there?”

Soonyoung hummed contemplatively. Jihoon had never been the type of beat around the bush, but when it came to secrets, he tended to mellow out on that aspect. But Soonyoung figured that Jihoon had probably realized that Soonyoung would have questioned as to why Jihoon incessantly tried to call him the moment Soonyoung had mentioned Seungcheol over text.

“Why do you want to know?” asked Soonyoung, trying to keep his tone light and not accusatory, “Did something happen yesterday?”

Jihoon paused for a beat or two, and Soonyoung knew that Jihoon realized that he was being too casual with his words.

Soonyoung smiled and guessed the whole knowing each other for so long meant that Jihoon had picked up on few of Soonyoung’s tells too.

Soonyoung needed to practice his acting, it seems.

“...What did he tell you?” finally asked Jihoon. Soonyoung’s couldn't help but laugh, both of them knowing that the jig was up.

“Oh, nothing much..” drawled out Soonyoung, “Just something about how he's your Soulmate.”

There was quiet from the other end, and for a second, Soonyoung thought that Jihoon had actually hung up. A quick glance showed that the line was still connected, but still no sound from Jihoon’s side.

“Jihoon?” asked Soonyoung, now slightly concerned.

“That idiot…” finally came Jihoon’s words, sounding exasperated, maybe even a bit fond.

“What else did he say?” asked Jihoon, back to his normal tone of voice.

“Oh, nothing really…” said Soonyoung as he looked off to some corner of the office, “Asked if I knew you and if he could have your number.”

Lying probably wasn't the best course of action, but suddenly, for once in his life, Soonyoung felt like he probably shouldn't have stuck his nose where it didn't belong.

Seungcheol looked like he was fully intending to use the schedule that he had passed off just a mere 5 minutes ago, so Soonyoung figured that his lie wasn't going to stay covered up for too long.

But facing Jihoon’s wrath at a later date rather than right now sounded like the better of the two options.

“You didn't give it to him, right?” asked Jihoon, who sounded mainly angry, but underneath, Soonyoung detected a bit of vulnerability in is words.

And holy shit. Soonyoung could feel the blood drain from his face at the sound. Had he just made a huge mistake by blindly trusting Seungcheol?

Sure, he seemed like a nice enough guy, but looks could always be deceiving and suddenly Seungcheol’s casual remark of “And what if it’s not?” came back like a phantom and Soonyoung might have just made a huge mistake.

“No, of course not,” reassured Soonyoung. He might not have given Seungcheol his number but he did give him Jihoon’s full schedule and that could be 100 times worse than giving him his number.

“Jihoon,” started Soonyoung, now sounding properly worried, “ _Is_ Seungcheol your Soulmate?”

And even though Soonyoung could be a liar, Jihoon couldn’t. He might keep secrets to himself, but he never lied when directly asked.

Soonyoung heard a soft sigh right before an equally as soft, “I don't want him to be.”

Then Jihoon promptly hung up, done with the conversation.

Jihoon’s answer left a lot to wonder about, but at least it answered that Seungcheol was actually Jihoon’s Soulmate.

Soonyoung let that thought comfort him as he placed down his phone. At least he hadn't messed up spectacularly. (At least he hopes he hadn't.)

Soonyoung bit the inside of his cheek before returning his attention to the computer in front of him. Soulmate dynamics sounded too tiresome to be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly had planned for the JiHan scene to just be a normal conversation, but that obviously didn't happen.


	7. Ruthless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter??? So soon???? I know, I'm just as surprised as everyone else.

** 10Outof10: **

** \-- So Jisoo said that he told you about how his Soulmate is Jeonghan. **

** \-- And he also said that Jeonghan has a second Soulmate? **

** \-- Who is apparently SEUNGCHEOL? **

** \-- Oh shit, I really hope you knew about that second part. **

 

** Fairy: **

** \-- ..Yes… I knew about Jeonghan and Seungcheol. **

 

** 10OutOf10: **

** \-- Oh, phew. **

** \-- That could have been awkward. **

** \-- But anyways, the reason I bring this up is to ask **

** \-- Does Jisoo know about you and Seungcheol? **

** \-- Because he was telling me about how Jeonghan knows that Seungcheol has a second Soulmate **

** \-- But the way he was phrasing it was like Jeonghan thought Seungcheol hadn’t found his second one yet. **

** \-- And Jisoo was acting like he didn’t know about you and Seungcheol. **

** \-- And I don’t want to say anything if you haven’t told Jisoo yet. **

 

** Fairy: **

** \-- I appreciate you asking me about this before saying anything.  **

** \-- But no, I haven’t told Jisoo. **

** \-- And I don’t plan on it. **

** \-- Which leads me to ask you, **

** \-- Please don’t tell anyone. Seungcheol is my Soulmate, but like I said, I don’t want him to be. **

 

** 10OutOf10: **

** \-- Wow **

** \-- Um **

** \-- But why **

 

** Fairy: **

** \-- It’s complicated and I rather just forget this whole thing even happened. **

** \-- So I would appreciate it if you promised me that you won’t tell anyone about this. **

 

** 10OutOf10: **

** \-- …...aallrrriiigghhhttt **

** \-- This sounds like a lot of Soulmate bullshit that I really don’t understand **

** \-- But yeah man, I won’t say anything. **

** \-- Not really my place to, I guess. **

 

** Fairy:  **

** \-- Thank you **

 

**\----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

 

It had been about a week since Jihoon had found his Soulmate, and he was still trying his hardest to completely forget that fact. His mind swirled in circles around it, to the point of making him dizzy. It was nerve wracking and annoying and Jihoon had been trying his damn hardest to completely forget that it had happened. 

So he had been throwing himself into his school work, trying to fill his mind with numbers and music chords and scales so that his mind would be full to the brim, no room left to think about a certain boy whose name started with an S.

Jihoon had been so preoccupied with keeping his mind off things that he didn’t want to focus on that it wasn’t until when Mingyu and Wonwoo had returned from their mini-vacation that Jihoon realized just how normal everyone else had been acting.

It could mean a numerous amount of things as to why Jisoo was putting up a front like Jihoon had been doing. Maybe Jisoo was doing exactly as him by trying to act like nothing had happened between him and Jeonghan. Whether it was because his confrontation with the boy a week ago had gone well or not was anyone's guess.

Jisoo hasn’t brought it up on his own, and Jihoon was still working hard on the whole ‘Acting Like Soulmates Don’t Exist’ strategy, so all in all, he was actually kinda grateful to the fact that Jisoo wasn’t trying to shove his own Soulmate problems or non-problems on him.

But after Jihoon had started to take notice of his friends' behavior, it was when Jihoon realized that Soonyoung had been tiptoeing around anything that could have been interpreted as related to Soulmates. It wasn’t obvious and Jihoon had probably only noticed since he started to look for it, Soonyoung had never been one to talk about such things in the first place.

It was during their lunch break, when Mingyu had laughed carelessly while leaning heavily on Wonwoo that he was reminded of the fact that this whole time, Jihoon hadn't seen or hear a word from S ever since the day they met. Which meant that Soonyoung actually  _hadn't_ given him his contact information. (Something Jihoon had been worried about the second he heard that S visited Soonyoung, even though the other assured him he hadn't.)

So all in all, Jihoon would like to think that he had been handling the situation fairly well.

(He really wasn’t. He couldn’t lie to himself properly, and even in the privacy of his own mind he couldn’t even bring himself to say his Soulmate's name. And here he was, thinking about the exact thing he was trying to not think about, even after he promised himself that he wouldn't.)

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Music composition class was going by fairly well. Even though it was a Monday and Jihoon had accidentally stayed up a few hours longer last night than he probably should have, it was good.

Jisoo was humming a soft and pleasant tune next to him and the teacher had just said that they weren't going to be assigning any homework for the night. So far, today had been fairly enjoyable.

But almost like the universe had heard him, the day had taken a tragically sharp turn in the wrong direction once class ended.

Jisoo was asking if Jihoon was going to be joining him for lunch when his eyesight had almost instinctively floated up and to the front door of the classroom.

There, Jihoon had been greeted to a sight that caused his heart to instantly kick into hyperdrive.

Seungcheol was standing just a little bit in and to the left of the entrance like he had been waiting for Jihoon exit.

When Seungcheol had noticed that he had been spotted, he vacated his post and started to make his way past exiting students and up to where he and Jisoo were.

“Jihoon?” came Jisoo’s concerned voice.

Belatedly, he realized that he had froze up, his hands no longer working on putting his stuff into his backpack.

Under his breath, Jihoon hissed a small curse before he doubled his speed to get everything into his backpack in time.

A quick glance showed that he wasn't going to make it, and for a split second, Jihoon entertained the idea of just ditching his stuff and making a run for it.

“Good morning,” greeted Seungcheol comfortably when he finally made it to the pair.

“Hello..?” replied Jisoo, thoroughly confused by Seungcheol’s sudden appearance in their class. “Wait, aren't you—?”

Both boys promptly cut off Jisoo.

“He's nobody.”

“I'm Seungcheol.”

Seemingly undeterred by Jihoon’s harsh words, Seungcheol extended his hand to Jisoo in greeting. Jisoo returned it easily, if only out of habit, but his face seemed to have lost a bit of its color.

“I'm sorry, but may I ask why you're here?” asked Jisoo, his voice wavering a bit with what Jihoon interpreted as weariness.

But before Jihoon could even try to understand as to why Jisoo would be acting this way towards Seungcheol, he felt a heavy weight drape over his shoulders before getting pulled into Seungcheol’s side.

“I'm Jihoon’s Soulmate.”

Jisoo seemed stunned after hearing that, a deer in headlights look prominent on his face as he took in Seungcheol. Seungcheol quirked an eyebrow back at him.

“Something wrong with that?” asked Seungcheol, voice tilting towards defensive.

“Oh no, nothing,” Jisoo went back to packing his things, “It’s just that Jihoon hadn’t felt the need to tell me, one of his closest friends, that he found his Soulmate.”

Jihoon winced as the harsh undertone in Jisoo’s voice. A quick glance at Seungcheol reminded him that none of this was supposed to be happening in the first place.

“I wasn’t planning on  _anyone_ hearing that I found my Soulmate since I haven’t,” retorted Jihoon, shoving Seungcheol’s arm off his shoulders before taking a few precautionary steps around the desk just to make sure he didn't try again.

Jihoon could see stunned looks from both Jisoo and Seungcheol as he went back to gathering his things. He swung his backpack onto his back as he started to walk away, casting an “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jisoo,” over his shoulder in farewell.

“So that's a no to lunch?” called out Jisoo to Jihoon’s back.

“Not hungry,” said Jihoon just loud enough so Jisoo could hear even though he was already halfway out of class.

It only took a few steps out in the hallway that Jihoon’s fleeting thought that Seungcheol was going to leave him alone was shattered, the boy practically skidding to his side, who had to run to catch up.

“You can say some pretty mean things, you know that?” said Seungcheol, tone a forced easily going. Jihoon could see the tension in his jaw, but Seungcheol seemed to be trying to let it go.

“I can say even meaner things if you keep following me.”

Jihoon just knew that it had been too good to be true that he hadn't seen anything from Seungcheol in the last week.

Jihoon had tried to speed up his steps when he realized that Seungcheol had followed him out, but he wasn't getting much headway compared to Seungcheol’s longer legs.

They had just made it out of the building when Seungcheol grabbed at Jihoon’s wrist. “Hey, could you slow down? I can't talk to you properly like this.”

Jihoon snapped his hand to his chest, effectively ridding of Seungcheol’s grip on him.

Seungcheol sighed deeply, looking like he had been ready for that.

Before Seungcheol could say anything else, Jihoon spoke up. “Look, I dunno if you get the hint yet, but I would much rather you just pretend like we never met.”

“Why?” asked Seungcheol, sounding just as hurt by Jihoon’s words as he looked.

“Because I’m not too keen on sharing.” spit Jihoon before turning to walk away again.

That should be enough for him, thought Jihoon. Maybe he would get the picture without too much of a fight and stop following him. But once again, Seungcheol started up his steps to keep pace with Jihoon.

“Can we at least talk about it before you go and decide that you don’t want me?” asked Seungcheol, sounding out of breath and a tad bit desperate.

Jihoon just kept up his brisk pace, unanswering. He knew that ignoring people was only really easy when over messages, but the same idea could get across even when in person. If Jihoon kept his mouth shut, Seungcheol had to finally get the picture or at least get fed up and leave.

It wasn’t until Jihoon ignored a few more of Seungcheol’s questions that it seemed that he realized what Jihoon was playing at.

“Can you just, _stop for a second_?” said Seungcheol, once again pulling Jihoon to a halt with a hand on his wrist. But once again, Jihoon ripped it out of Seungcheol hold.

Seungcheol sighed deeply. “Can we go somewhere to talk? Maybe to your place?”

At that, Jihoon rounded on Seungcheol. He couldn't believe how lightly Seungcheol seemed to be taking all of this. It wasn't like Jihoon was being subtle with how much he  _didn't_ want to talk, but now Seungcheol was suggesting that Jihoon take him to his  _place?_

“Look,” began Jihoon, squaring his shoulders. Even though he would much rather continue to ignore Seungcheol’s existence, it seemed like that plan wasn't going to work out. “I have no idea how you even found out where I had class, but no way in hell am I going to show you where I _live.”_

“Okay, then maybe a cafe?” provided Seungcheol, worrying his lower lip. Earlier, Seungcheol had been standing tall and was very sure in his steps, but now, under Jihoon’s glare and harsh words, Seungcheol seemed to be slowly crumbling in on himself.

The sadness in his eyes when he glanced at Jihoon pulled at his heart. And even though he had a reputation for not being the nicest guy around, it wasn't like he was actively working towards that legacy. It had come about because of his flippant nature and inability to sugar coat his words. His friends understood this and Jihoon knew this.

So activity hurting someone's feelings wasn't easy, especially when he knew how much his words were probably hurting Seungcheol.

Jihoon raked his hands through his hair, upset because he had known the second Seungcheol showed up was going to be his defeat. Ignoring people was the easy route, and it would have been so much easier on both him and Seungcheol if he had just kept away.

“Alright,” began Jihoon, his tone low, “but you probably won't be happy with what I have to say.”

But Seungcheol was already cheering up, a huge attractive smile gracing his lips. “I'm just happy for the opportunity.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It didn't take long for the two of them to make it to the on-campus coffee shop. Seungcheol had pouted a bit when Jihoon suggested it, saying that he would much rather take him somewhere nice that actually served good drinks.

Jihoon had to bite his lip, trying to keep the swirling emotions down at the fact that Seungcheol apparently wanted to treat him.

But in the end, Jihoon got his way. He couldn't help but think of this coming conversation like a battle, one that he knew he had to be both persuasive and level headed in. Which meant he needed to be in familiar territory.

His first and last interaction with Seungcheol only brought back embarrassing memories of how he had lost control over his emotions, but Jihoon was prepared this time around.

(Maybe not, worried Jihoon, since he had been spending the last week ignoring anything and everything that had to do with Seungcheol and Soulmates rather than creating an outline to convince Seungcheol that it would be best to move on. If only Seungcheol would have stuck to Jihoon’s plan A.)

They took up a free booth that was far enough in that most people probably wouldn't pay them any mind, but close enough to the entrance that Jihoon was convinced that he could bolt out of before Seungcheol could do anything about it if he needed to.

They were both already sitting when Seungcheol seemed to remember that this was a place that sold drinks.

“Would you like me to get you something?” Seungcheol was already halfway out of his seat before he seemed to have thought better of it. “On second thought, we can grab something after we're done talking.”

“A bit too early to be so optimistic,” quipped back Jihoon, upset that the small opening that Seungcheol had almost given him to run had been taken away.

“I like to play like I know I’ll win.” Seungcheol earlier bravado seemed to have made its way back, even going as far as sending a grossly endearing wink over to Jihoon. Seungcheol laughed at the face Jihoon must have made.

“What am I, some sort of prize?” muttered Jihoon.

At that, Seungcheol seemed to remember that this was a very serious conversation they were going to have and needed to save the jokes for a later date.

“Of course not, I’m sorry for the bad joke. Please know that you mean so much more to me than just something to be won,” said Seungcheol, a deep frown marring his face.

Jihoon brought his hands onto the table before playing with his fingers. He had almost forgotten as to why he was sitting across from Seungcheol, but the power behind his words worried Jihoon. It meant that convincing Seungcheol probably wasn’t going to be easy. (There was something deeper in Jihoon that wanted to swoon at Seungcheol’s words, but he won’t be easily swayed either.)

“That’s just it,” started Jihoon, “you don’t _know_ me. How could you even say that I mean anything to you?”

“I know that I don’t _know_ you, Jihoon. All I really know is your name and your face, but I also know that we both have a pair of Soulmarks that match.” Jihoon glanced up at the feeling of someone else’s hand playing with his fingers. Seungcheol’s hand had at some point made it onto the table too, now holding Jihoon’s thumb, his forefinger sliding comforting swipes across his finger. “Knowing that you’re my Soulmate just spurs me into _wanting_ to get to know you, and knowing that I’ll enjoy the path to getting to know you is all the more exciting.”

Jihoon pulls his hand out from Seungcheol’s grasp lightly, keeping his mind focused on the words coming out of his mouth. “You can’t just expect that you’ll like everything that I do! You didn’t like me running away from you, did you?”

There was a slight frown on Seungcheol’s face now, but it was more of a contemplative frown then a sad one. “No, I didn’t. I still don’t like the idea that you want to run away or ignore me. But I have a little experience with Soulmates, and I’ve learned that no, you aren’t always happy with the way they act. But the Soulmate status shows that you can work past those things together _if_ _both parties work towards it.”_ stressed Seungcheol at the end.

Jihoon pursed his lips. He had never been a fan of people calling him out on his shit, and he especially wasn’t a fan of Seungcheol doing it. (Probably because he knew that Seungcheol was right, but that made Jihoon want to dig his heels in even more.)

Jihoon leans back in his seat, a cynical smile forming on his face. “How’s your other Soulmate doing, by the way? Is he happy to hear you found your other Soulmate?”

Seungcheol pursed his lips, obviously upset with Jihoon’s sudden mood and topic shift.

“We aren't talking about him right now, we’re talking about us.”

Jihoon’s eyebrows shot up in fake surprise. “Oh no, have you not told him about me yet?” Jihoon’s voice held fake concern and hurt, even going as far as bringing his hand up to his chest like he was comforting himself.

Seungcheol’s face had fallen to no expressions, obviously already fed up with Jihoon’s behavior. “Don’t do this, I know you’re better than this.”

Jihoon couldn’t help but lean forward onto the table in front of him, intertwining his fingers together before lifting one mocking eyebrow. “Do you now?”

“I do because my Soulmate would never be this much of a _brat._ ” Seungcheol seemed to be fraying a bit at the edges. He took a deep breath, trying to wrangle back in his composure. Both of them knew that Jihoon was just trying to rile him up, prove something that wasn’t there to prove.

“I’m sorry,” began Seungcheol, voice steady once again, “But please don’t act like this, Jihoon. Please seriously listen and consider my words, instead of putting up this wall of cynicality.”

Jihoon could just glare over at the other, upset that Seungcheol had already called him out on his bluff. But Jihoon had lost himself too, reminding himself that he wasn’t here to take his anger out on Seungcheol. Seungcheol was just an innocent bystander in this and honestly didn’t deserve Jihoon taking out his frustrations with this whole situation on him.

He was upset that Seungcheol had a second Soulmate, but that wasn’t Seungcheol’s fault. So Jihoon took his own calming breath, remembering his promise to himself that he wouldn’t let his emotions take control of him during this conversation.

“Alright, but only if you agree to listen and consider what I have to say seriously too.”

Seungcheol let an easy smile grace his lips, happy to see that Jihoon was starting to take this conversation as seriously as he wanted him to. “Of course, it’s only fair.”

Jihoon let his shoulders sag a bit, most of his torso still leaning over the tabletop. There were so many places he would much rather be right now. His apartment, the library, hell, anywhere would be better than the college cafe with Seungcheol sitting across from him.

“I’ll go first then, since I already know what your argument is going to be,” started Jihoon as he began to fiddle with his fingers again. The tabletop was cold against his hands. “I think it would be in your best interests if you just forgot about be.”

Seungcheol’s frown was back, but before he could say anything, Jihoon spoke up again. “You have another Soulmate. It won’t be too hard since you got someone else you could go live your life with.”

Jihoon kept his eyes downcast, just looking at his fingers wring against each other. It was taking a few seconds longer for Seungcheol reply, but Jihoon couldn’t bring himself to look up, afraid of what expression Seungcheol would be giving him this time.

“But what about you?”

Jihoon looked up at that, surprise on his face. He honestly wasn’t expecting Seungcheol to take that route.

“I’ve been fine without one, and I can continue my life without one. It won’t be a big deal to me, I don’t even fully believe in Soulmates anyways,” explained Jihoon with a shrug. He felt bare under Seungcheol’s gaze. It was soft, care for Jihoon shining in his eyes.

There was another pause, as if Seungcheol was really mulling over what Jihoon had just said. It worried him, suddenly feeling like he revealed too much.

“...Is that what this is about?” Jihoon had watched Seungcheol’s expression change, which now looked both relieved and troubled, like he had finally figured out just why Jihoon had been avoiding him but was still worried as to how he was going to handle that problem.

“What?” Once again, Jihoon could feel the warmth of someone else’s hand on his own, but this time around he didn’t pull away.

“That you don’t believe in Soulmates? Because I can prove you wrong on that if you give me a chance,” said Seungcheol, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on the top of Jihoon’s hand, “I can’t stop thinking about you Jihoon.”

Jihoon saw the heat he could feel on his cheeks reflected on Seungcheol’s own.

“This last week had been almost like torture. There was nothing more that I wanted than to just come and talk to you, but I knew that you needed time to process what happened, so I stayed away. I thought a week would be enough time,” continued Seungcheol, his eyes low and looking at his hand play with Jihoon’s own, “but you just ran away, again.”

Jihoon heard the pain in Seungcheol’s voice, saw it on his face. Why was this guy that Jihoon had only talked to twice hurting so much because he ignored him? There shouldn’t have been a reason, but apparently just knowing they were Soulmates was a good enough reason for Seungcheol.

There was nothing more in the world that Jihoon wanted in that moment then to turn back time and avoid having touched Seungcheol in the first place. If none of that had happened, Jihoon wouldn’t have had to go through the pain of knowing he would have to share his Soulmate. Seungcheol wouldn’t have had to go through the pain of Jihoon running from him not only once, but twice, if they had stayed ignorant to what they were to each other.

This was dumb. Jihoon was being childish. What was done is now done, and he needed to own up to it.

“Did it hurt? Me running away?” Jihoon was curious, voice almost a whisper. He could theorize as to just how much his actions had hurt Seungcheol, but that was nothing compared to hearing it straight from the source.

“Yes,” answered Seungcheol, voice just as soft. His hands tightened onto Jihoon’s before picking them up from the table. Seungcheol’s hands were warm and larger than his own, which covered Jihoon’s cold palms. Before Jihoon could realize what Seungcheol was doing, he brought Jihoon’s hands closer to himself before he leaned down to kiss one of Jihoon’s knuckles. “I don’t ever want to feel that much pain again.”

It was an intimate gesture, making Jihoon feel strange but at the same time made his insides feel like goo. Jihoon might have even been about to admit to himself that he loved it until he remembered that Seungcheol had someone else who he was probably doing these exact same romantic gestures to.

Jihoon was born an only child and had grown up fending for himself. All decisions he had made for himself were always by himself and rarely did he let other people influence or change his mind when it came to him getting what he wanted.

But in the past, all those choices never affected others badly. If he wanted to go to a certain university, there was no skin off his parents' noses. If Jihoon had wanted to miss out on sleep or skip meals just for the sake of his education, so be it. But this. Him choosing to ignore Seungcheol wasn’t just a decision that he could make for himself.

Soulmateship was a two person deal, any choice made by one person affected the other, no matter how hard he didn’t want it to. And Jihoon’s decision to just brush his Soulmateship under the rug and ignore that it had ever happened meant that he was brushing off Seungcheol, which in turn hurt him.

Jihoon was being childish for thinking that ignoring the problem would have cause it to disappear, but he really couldn’t blame himself for his initial actions. But he could blame himself if he continued to act like a child after coming to this revelation.

But none of this changes his viewpoints on how fake and unrealistic the Soulmate dynamic was or that Jihoon was expected to share if he accepted Seungcheol.

“...Alright,” started Jihoon, before coughing once or twice, to bring back the strength to his voice, all the while gently pulling his hands out of Seungcheol’s grip, “I’ll admit, that’s one of my problems with this. But your second Soulmate is also a huge factor.”

Seungcheol looked genuinely sad when he said his next words, “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about that. What I _can_ do is show you that having a second Soulmate won’t deter me from being a good Soulmate to you.”

Seungcheol sounded sincere. His words rang with truth, and Jihoon knew that the words that Seungcheol was saying were words he believed to be true. But Jihoon had always had a bad habit of not believing such frivolously said optimistic words. Some people claimed it was him just being pessimistic, but he knew it was just him being realistic.

In due time, Seungcheol will see that him having a second Soulmate wasn’t going to fulfill Jihoon. That Jihoon never liked sharing, which meant sharing a Soulmate was completely out of the question. Jihoon knew that Seungcheol was going to slip, and when he did, Jihoon would be there to tell him that he should have listened to him back when he could. Before they knew each other and before Seungcheol would inevitably get his heart broken because apparently, just telling him that this wasn’t going to work out wasn’t getting through to him. So Jihoon would have to show him.

But Jihoon knew that Seungcheol had his second Soulmate to fall to, who would pick up the pieces that Jihoon was going to break off of Seungcheol. The very reason why it wasn’t going to work out between the two of them was going to be the thing that fixed Seungcheol.

Maybe then, Seungcheol would finally see that he should have just left Jihoon behind. Jihoon had never been one to hurt someone intentionally, but this outcome was inevitable. Now it was just a matter of showing Seungcheol by example what Jihoon already knew was going to happen.

That this Soulmateship wasn’t going to work out. And if Seungcheol wouldn’t take Jihoon’s warning, then it was ultimately Seungcheol’s fault in the end if he ended up broken and hurting.

With that thought now his main motivator and understanding of this relationship, Jihoon reached back and produced his cell phone out of his back pocket before sliding it towards Seungcheol.

Jihoon watched as Seungcheol’s face lit up, the widest grin of the day gracing his features.

“Does this mean you’re giving me a chance?” asked Seungcheol, who already had Jihoon’s phone in his hands, typing in his phone number.

Jihoon nodded before forcing a smile onto his face.

“You won’t regret this, I swear,” said Seungcheol, who had just produced his own phone so Jihoon could input his own number into.

Jihoon tried hard to keep his faint frown off his face. Seungcheol was right, he wouldn’t regret it, but Seungcheol would in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slowly but surely, we are getting there! Thank you for reading! <3


	8. Appealing

**Oracle:**

**\-- Just wanted to text and make sure you’re still going to keep me having a soulmate a secret for now.**

**\-- I have yet to find a good time to really talk to Jihoon about this whole thing yet since he seems pretty busy with his own issues.**

 

**10OutOf10:**

**\-- Yeah man, I get that this is probably a sensitive topic with how you and Jihoon apparently** **gotta share your soulmates with someone else.. Bummer, btw**

 

**Oracle:**

**\-- ….Yeah.**

 

**10OutOf10:**

**\-- How’s that going anyway?**

 

**Oracle:**

**\-- Good, I think. I’m not sure if Jeonghan knows yet that Seungcheol has found his other soulmate or if Seungcheol knows that I’m Jeonghan’s other. But I would like to keep it that way for now if I can. Which is why I would like you to confirm again that you won’t tell anyone about what's been going on.**

 

**10OutOf10:**

**\-- Geez, does no one think I can keep a secret?**

**\-- I Will Not Stick My Nose Where It Doesn’t Belong.**

**\-- Happy?**

 

**Oracle:**

**\-- Yes, thank you.**

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Playing hide and seek with your soulmate probably could have been a cute and fun ordeal, full of laughs and touches and stereotypical chases that ended in the both of them sprawled out on top of each other. A few kisses might have been exchanged too.

Jihoon playing hide and seek with Seungcheol was considerably less fun. Especially when Seungcheol wasn't even aware that they were even playing such a game and had no idea that Jihoon was still trying to avoid any sort of face to face confrontation with the boy.

But somehow, no matter how much Jihoon would skirt around the idea of actually meeting up with Seungcheol when the boy would bring up the idea in one of the few text conversations that Jihoon actually replied to, Seungcheol would somehow end up bumping into him.

Jihoon’s suspicions had come back full force when only a week after the cafe talk, Seungcheol had shown up at one of his other classes, insisting that they went to go get lunch together, Seungcheol’s treat.

A few colorfully worded texts at Soonyoung and he was finally admitting that he was responsible for Seungcheol’s knowledge to Jihoon’s class schedule.

Jihoon had only forgiven the boy after he promised to buy his lunch for the next week. (Which Jihoon would have eventually forgiven him for anyways since he had done it before Jihoon had warned him to keep his nose out if his business Soulmate wise, but Soonyoung didn't need to know about that. Jihoon’s wallet was already praising him for tricking Soonyoung.)

So the game of hide and seek began. Like previously stated, texts were easy to deal with and even easier to ignore. Most of the time, the things Seungcheol would send him were things he didn't strictly have to answer to anyways.

Cute texts would pop into Jihoon’s notifications every now and then, ranging from the casual, ‘how's your day going?’ all the way to the more affectionate, ‘Thinking of you ❤︎’.

The first time Jihoon had skimmed such words had his face ablaze before he hastily tucked his phone as far as he could into his pocket, willing his body to believe that that it was a trick of the eye, determined to convince himself that he had made up the whole thing.

But of course, when Jihoon had let his guard down at the end of his school day, he had pulled out his phone to check random social media just to pull a repeat of what happened earlier, once again thoroughly embarrassed that he was now on the receiving end of such lover like texts.

The hardest part of this one-sided game of hide and seek was that no matter how often he avoided texts and inquires to meet up, there was nothing he could do about the fact that Seungcheol was starting to show up at the end of his classes more and more frequently.

And there was practically nothing in this world that could justify to Jihoon to skip class, not even an annoying Soulmate who kept taking it upon himself to insert himself into Jihoon’s life, always greeting Jihoon with a smile whenever he would leave class and see Seungcheol waiting in a hallway for him.

During the first week or two of this, Jihoon would only mumble out a greeting, as friendly as they come from someone who’s not exactly happy to see the other. But since then, Jihoon had grown used to Seungcheol’s appearance after class. His variety of greetings have grown too, from, “Don’t you have another Soulmate to be spending time with?” to—

“I don’t need you to babysit me to lunch every other day, you know?” grumbled out Jihoon when he caught sight of Seungcheol standing just outside his and Jisoo’s music composition class, just on time like usual.

“Of course I do,” easily replied Seungcheol, greeting an accompanying Jisoo afterward, “You have no idea how worried I was when I found out that you usually skip.”

“I’ve tried to get him to come more often, but there is only so much you can do when Jihoon decides to be stubborn,” chimes in Jisoo.

“I’m pretty sure I’m learning that the hard way,” says Seungcheol with a deep sigh.

It was then that Seungcheol seemed a take notice that Jihoon was struggling a bit with his backpack, hanging over one shoulder to sling towards his front, still hanging half open. He had been trying to rush out of class, in the off chance that today he would be able to outpace Seungcheol, and hadn't been able to fully put his folder away yet.

Without a word, Seungcheol reached out to steady both the backpack and folder, easily helping Jihoon slip it in, even going as far as zipping it up for him when everything was finally inside.

The actions clenched at Jihoon’s heart and he allowed himself to at least breath out a quiet thanks.

Seungcheol hummed out in acknowledgment as Jihoon slung the backpack back so he could properly situate it on his back.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Jihoon couldn’t help but grumble under his breath the whole way to the school’s water fountain. Jisoo and Seungcheol had hit it off sometime in the month that Seungcheol coming to walk Jihoon to lunch become something that happened on the regular, able to carry light conversation the whole way.

Jihoon knew that with a personality like Seungcheol’s, he was probably widely popular with anyone he had a conversation with, but the idea of _his_ friends liking Seungcheol made knowing that this buddy-buddy act between them was going to inevitably come crumbling to the ground all the harder to accept.

Their friendly chatter easily continued over Jihoon’s head all the way to the courtyard that the fountain was found, and this was usually where Seungcheol would make his leave, happy to know that Jihoon wasn’t _so_ stubborn that he would just up and leave after going the whole way here without actually getting lunch.

But apparently, today was the day for Seungcheol to make an even further attempt into Jihoon’s life since he continued on with the pair even after his usual finish line.

Jihoon almost hadn’t caught the change in their usual routine, now use to the usual chatter between him and Jisoo. But when his feet hit grass and Seungcheol’s voice hadn’t bid him farewell, (or tried to hug him in departure) he instantly knew something was up.

“Wait,” said Jihoon as he skidded his steps to a halt before whipping towards Seungcheol and pointing at him accusingly, already having a good idea of what Seungcheol’s plan was. “No.”

“No?” asked Seungcheol, but there was a ghost of a smile hidden under his facade of ignorance and Jihoon definitely wasn’t buying it.  

“No?” mimicked Jisoo, just confused as to what was happening.

“Head on over without me Jisoo,” dismissed Jihoon, not letting his eyes leave Seungcheol just in case he tried to make a break for it.

“Uh,” said Jisoo, apparently now looking to Seungcheol for an answer.

“It’s okay, I think Jihoon wants to talk privately,” explained Seungcheol where Jihoon didn’t.

“Alright..” relented Jisoo, but didn't sound very convinced that he should be leaving, since Jihoon was suddenly looking hostile, “I’ll see you guys in a minute then.”

When Jisoo’s footsteps finally made it to a distance that Jihoon deemed acceptable, he spoke up.

“I know what you’re trying to do and I won’t allow it. Just because you won over Jisoo so easily doesn’t mean I’m going to allow you to try and win over my other friends.”

“I dunno what you mean,” started Seungcheol, unable to keep eye contact with Jihoon, “I’m just hungry too, take pity on me Jihoon,” whined Seungcheol.

Seungcheol held his stomach like he had gone days without food, his face trying to convey that exact idea to Jihoon. He had to admit, the whole ploy was a bit pitiful, but he wouldn’t be won over so easily.

Seungcheol looked over Jihoon’s shoulder when Jihoon didn't show any signs of relenting. Jihoon followed his eye line and saw that Jisoo had just made it to his other friends, who were very obviously staring over at the two of them.

“Let's not keep your friends waiting,” spoke up Seungcheol. Unfortunately for him, Jihoon had no problem being an inconvenience to his friends.

“Give me one good reason why I should let you meet my friends,” said Jihoon. His back felt tight with how stiff he was standing.

Seungcheol’s earlier playfulness seemed to slide off his face, exactly how it always did when he realized that Jihoon needed him to be serious. At least he could read the mood well.

He let out a deep sigh that sagged his shoulders like he was burdened by the idea that he needed to convince Jihoon. It made Jihoon bristle all the more.

Before Seungcheol could speak, Jihoon spoke up again.

“You could stop chasing me at any time, you know? You're the only one here making you deal with a burden like me.”

Seungcheol’s eyebrows knit together, completely thrown by the direction the conversation had turned. Instead of another deep sigh, like Jihoon had expected, Seungcheol just rolled his shoulders back into their normal position.

“You can't chase me away that easily,” spoke up Seungcheol, “and I said it before and I'll say it as many times as I feel like you need to hear it. I know you'll be worth chasing.”

Seungcheol stepped forward, easily closing off the small distance that was between them before. Jihoon placed one foot back but didn't take the full step away, only prepping just in case.

Seungcheol’s hands came up then and Jihoon had thought he was going to go for a hug, or maybe grab at his face, but instead he just felt the weight of his backpack shift as Seungcheol resituated the straps better onto his shoulders.

“And I want to get to know you, which includes getting to know your friends. Can I at least try? And if your friends end up hating me, then wouldn't it be a sign that we wouldn't work out in the end?” questioned Seungcheol, a small smile tugging at the ends of his lips.

But Jihoon knew that smile wasn't supposed to be there. That it was only gracing his lips as a courtesy to Jihoon, who he had read almost flawlessly.

Somehow Seungcheol had read between the lines of Jihoon’s actions and his words. Was able to interpret that Jihoon’s words from earlier about Seungcheol becoming friendly with Jisoo so quickly and easily were actually him fearing the idea that it would happen again with the others.

He had been able to see that Jihoon hadn't been giving Seungcheol as much of a chance as he said he would (if the avoiding him hadn't been his first clue) and this was him just digging his heels in harder at the idea of _actually_ giving him a chance.

And why was it that every time Jihoon had to reevaluate his actions at the beckoning of Seungcheol, he found himself in the wrong?

That he knew if he _really_ was giving Seungcheol a chance, he would allow him to meet his friends and see where it went from there.

Seungcheol had even played into his small hope that this ‘chance’ he was giving him wasn't going to work out in the end by hinting at the idea of his friends not liking him could be a deal breaker.

And when Jihoon finally made it to the end of his evaluating, all he was left with was a small headache, the feeling of bitterness in the back of his throat by playing right into Seungcheol’s hands by convincing himself that his actions were the one in the wrong, and the searing warmth of Seungcheol's palms from where they had fallen to rest between his neck and backpack straps.

“Let's just get this over with,” grumbled out Jihoon.

The noise Seungcheol let out could have been interpreted as a squeal if Jihoon wasn't too busy trying to escape out of the cage that was Seungcheol’s arms as he suddenly hugged him close.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Somehow, Jihoon and the rest of them had been able to make it to the cafeteria and even all the way to their usual table before someone finally questioned the appearance of Seungcheol. Jisoo must have prepped them in advance.

“So, Jihoon…” began Mingyu around a bite of his apple, “who's your friend?”

Jihoon made rapid fire eye contact with both Jisoo and Soonyoung in quick succession, non-verbally warning them to keep their mouths shut.

But unfortunately for Jihoon, he hadn't accounted for Seungcheol answering for him.

“I'm his Soulmate!” happily announced Seungcheol, sounding proud of the title.

Both Mingyu and Wonwoo gasped at the news, Mingyu’s one out of excitement and Wonwoo’s out of disbelief. Jisoo kept on eating his lunch, unfazed, while Soonyoung did the same, but looked far more uncomfortable with the subject.

“ _Is_ he your Soulmate?” asked Wonwoo, making a point that he was specifically asking Jihoon this time around.

“I can't confirm nor deny that,” breathed out Jihoon’s response, keeping most of his attention on his spoon as he swirled it around his pudding cup.

“Yeah, I guess you're right,” agreed Seungcheol. Every pair of eyes was on him now, everyone confused. “Since Jihoon’s Soulmark is on my penis.”

Both Mingyu and Soonyoung promptly choked on their food. Small bits of apple accidentally sprayed onto the table, followed by Wonwoo patting Mingyu’s back, trying to help.

“Excuse me?!” asked a scandalized Soonyoung, having found his bearings faster than Mingyu.

“Well,” continued Seungcheol as if half the participants hadn't just choked, “it's not _on_ my penis, but it's pretty close and I don't think Jihoon would appreciate me pulling down my pants to prove our Soulmateship.”

Seungcheol then turned to Jihoon, as if he was looking for a confirmation only to be greeted by the sight of Jihoon holding his head in his hands.

Seungcheol laughed while patting Jihoon’s back good-heartedly before pulling the boy into his side, allowing the boy to hide his shame into the side of said boy he was ashamed of.

Jihoon pretended to not hear the coo Jisoo let out at the sight.

“Alright,” finally spoke up Wonwoo, which Jihoon was grateful, “putting aside any ideas of stripping, we haven't gotten an actual confirmation that what…” Wonwoo paused then.

“Seungcheol,” provided Jisoo.

“Seungcheol,” repeated Wonwoo, “is saying is actually real.”

Jihoon pushed himself out from where he had been tucked, ignoring the fact that Seungcheol still had his arm around his back, leaning his weight onto the hand that rested on the bench on the other side of Jihoon.

“Yeah, he's telling the truth,” finally fully confirmed Jihoon, finding no point in trying to hide the fact anymore. He knew that having Seungcheol tag along was going to bring this topic up to his remaining friends who didn't know, but that didn't stop him from dreaming that he might not have had to actually confirm it fully.

At the news, there was a spectrum of reactions all around the table, from giddy (Mingyu) all the way to skeptical (Wonwoo). Even Seungcheol wasn't left out from reacting, bumping his side into Jihoon’s own, unable to contain his excitement at hearing Jihoon confirm it.

“I'm so happy for you!” cheered Mingyu, completely ignoring the obvious cloud of annoyance hovering over Jihoon’s head. “That means that Soonyoung’s the last of our group to find his Soulmate.”

While Mingyu was busy elbowing Soonyoung’s side, heckling him about just when _he_ was going to find his, Seungcheol turned a curious face towards Jisoo.

“Does that mean you found yours too?” asked Seungcheol, genuinely curious.

Unconsciously, Jihoon brought his hand up to grip lightly at Seungcheol's shirt just when Jisoo accidently sucked in too much juice from the box he was drinking.

Jihoon’s mind was racing fast and out of all the times for someone to finally bring up the topic of Jisoo finding his Soulmate around Jihoon, Seungcheol just had to be present too.

If Seungcheol wasn't present, he would have taken this opportunity to finally question Jisoo about what was happening between him and Jeonghan. But now was _not_ the time.

“Um, yeah, I have,” sputtered out Jisoo after he was able to swallow his mouthful of juice.

“Actually,” spoke up Jihoon before Jisoo could even have the opportunity to say anything else, “Mingyu and Wonwoo are each other's Soulmates.”

Everyone's attention then shifted back to the opposite side of the lunch table to see that Wonwoo had also jumped in on playfully harassing Soonyoung.

But Mingyu and Wonwoo had paused their torment at the mention of their names.

“Yep,” confirmed Mingyu, easily intertwining his and Wonwoo’s fingers together, “been friends since middle school and found out on my 18th birthday.”

“Thank God for that too,” spoke up Wonwoo, “imagine how awkward it would have been if I had to explain to a Soulmate that I was in love with someone else.” Wonwoo gaze had yet to leave Mingyu’s own.

“Wow,” breathed out Seungcheol, “sounds like a dream come true.”

Jihoon looked up at that, taking note of Seungcheol’s wistful tone. His face held an open, awed expression, which was nothing new when it came to anyone hearing about the perfect Soulmate story that was Mingyu and Wonwoo’s relationship.

But Jihoon could easily trace the path of Seungcheol's eyes, which had been taking in the pairs laced fingers.

When he returned to Seungcheol's eyes, he saw something he hadn't been expecting. There was a longing in them, maybe even a bit of jealousy.

Seungcheol's eyes flashed over to Jihoon but quickly redirected to his lunch when he saw that Jihoon was already looking at him.

The action sent a pang of resentment from his stomach and up, clogging his throat.

Obviously, Seungcheol wanted more out of his relationship with Jihoon. But he couldn't allow it and Jihoon wouldn't allow himself to feel bad for his actions.

Seungcheol could easily leave him for Jeonghan at any moment and he needed to be prepared for when that was inevitably going to happen.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

A few more days had passed since Seungcheol had finally integrated his way into having lunch with him and his friends.

And just like how Jihoon had feared, things between him and his friends were going swimmingly. Since, Seungcheol had had lunch with them two more times (every other day, which coincided with his Music Composition class) and Jihoon could already find himself wondering just how his group of friends went every lunch time before Seungcheol.

Even Wonwoo had seemed to already be warming up to Seungcheol, having seen how Jihoon had acted towards Seungcheol and took it as a sign that he should be weary of Seungcheol.

But apparently, Seungcheol’s likability had surpassed Wonwoo’s will to be a good suspicious friend and was easily sharing and passing jokes off between the two of them by Friday.

But today was Saturday and for some reason, Jihoon found himself on the lip of the school’s fountain, letting out a weary sigh. He had been heading to the school library, feeling at ease with the milling of other students around the building instead of his lonely apartment as he made quick work of his remaining homework from the week.

Somewhere along the way, his feet traveled off his usual path and led him here, where he took a seat and decided to take in the day first before continuing on to his usual routine.

Keeping Seungcheol at a distance was getting harder and harder and he could even feel his walls starting to crack.

He couldn't help but let a bitter smile grow on his face. Seungcheol had been right, and he _was_ proving to Jihoon that being called Soulmates wasn't all for show.

Suddenly, Jihoon was thrown out of his meandering thoughts by a heavy but now familiar weight of an arm being thrown over his shoulder.

“Why so blue?” came the familiar rumble of Seungcheol’s voice and apparently Jihoon couldn't even avoid the boy on weekends now.

“And just when I thought your stalking couldn't go any further, you somehow were able to find me without my class schedule,” breathed out Jihoon. He wasn't really sure if he was in the mood to deal with Seungcheol and he definitely hadn't expected him to come interrupt his thoughts that were already preoccupied by said boy.

“Nope, not the stalking this time. Just those good ‘ol Soulmate instincts kicking in, letting me know that you were nearby,” joked back Seungcheol, able to let Jihoon’s comments slide right off him. By now he's gotten a lot of practice.

Jihoon turned to Seungcheol, shocked. “Is that a thing?”

Jihoon watched Seungcheol's face seemed to twist a bit, almost like the boy was in pain until a loud laugh finally burst its way out of Seungcheol's lungs. Jihoon realized that the look was him trying to keep his smile down.

Now thoroughly embarrassed, Jihoon tried to slide out from under Seungcheol's arm without another word.

“Oh no you don't,” chided Seungcheol before manhandling Jihoon a bit so that he couldn't leave just yet. “I was actually just heading home when I coincidentally saw you,” fully explained Seungcheol.

“Why are you on campus on a Saturday?” asked Jihoon, trying to change the subject as quickly as possible if Seungcheol wouldn't allow him to physically leave.

Seungcheol turned his body a bit so that he was facing Jihoon at a better angle, squeezing the arm he still had around Jihoon’s shoulders a bit.

Jihoon noticed that he was dressed a bit differently today as compared to his usual school clothes.

Instead of his casual jeans or comfortable sweats, today he was wearing dress pants. He even had on a nice black button down, sleeves rolled up to show off his forearms.

“One of the teachers asked me to help out with something.”

It was a pretty unfilled out explanation and didn't explain as to why he was wearing semi-formal clothes, but Jihoon didn't take the bait. He wasn't _that_ curious as to why Seungcheol was roaming around in such nice clothes on a day that he hadn't expected to run into Jihoon. (Yes, yes he was.)

Silence fell between the two boys, but Seungcheol didn't look like he was going to be moving anytime soon.

Just when Jihoon was going to make his exit, the silence was broken.

“You know,” spoke up Seungcheol, “I get the distinct feeling that you _aren’t_ quite on board for us being Soulmates yet.”

“Yeah, about that..”

“No, no,” butts in Seungcheol, shaking the hand that wasn’t currently occupying Jihoon’s shoulder dismissively, “I think it’s… interesting. Almost like a challenge.”

Jihoon raised his eyebrow at that. Since when did Seungcheol talk like this? All Jihoon has known of the boy so far is kind words and understanding comforts. This was something…. New.

Well, new probably wasn’t the right word. Jihoon vaguely remembers a time at the very beginning of this whole ordeal of a Seungcheol who was full of bravado and self-confidence. But since then, when Seungcheol realized that Jihoon hadn’t been exactly pleased with such actions, he had stopped.  

The right thing to call it was probably a ‘new development’. It was like Seungcheol was leveling up in his confidence with Jihoon and his relationship and was feeling comfortable enough to fall back into his more boyish tendencies. For some reason, Jihoon liked the idea of Seungcheol feeling comfortable around him more than he probably should have.

“Maybe this is part of the reason why destiny made us Soulmates,” continued Seungcheol, “I’ve always been a fan of challenges.”

“Oh yeah?” asked Jihoon. He’s very self-aware that he’s been playing hard to get this whole time. But much more in the ‘I honestly don’t want you around’ sort of matter rather than the flirtatious, ‘catch me if you can’ sort that Seungcheol was hinting towards.

Seungcheol hums an affirmative, squeezing the arm that still laid comfortably on Jihoon’s shoulders just a bit.  

And Jihoon hated to admit it, but the weight was nice. It was just as comforting for him as it probably was for Seungcheol. And why didn’t he hate the prospect of being chased after? Just a few weeks ago, the idea made Jihoon angry and he even called the boy out on the exact idea that day in the school’s cafe.

Why did Jihoon’s heart pound at a slightly faster tempo at the idea of Seungcheol finding him worth the effort of chasing? That Jihoon was something worth pinning over and getting close to, despite him deterring him at every turn?

The worst part was that none of this information was news to Jihoon. Seungcheol wouldn’t have been here by his side right now if he hadn’t been trying to actively pursue the boy this whole time. But there’s nothing like a verbal reminder from said boy to kick start the heart into a panic at the reminder. Plus this bolder side of Seungcheol seemed much more ‘Seungcheol’ than his demure attitude he had been taking with Jihoon.

“Yeah, Jeonghan didn’t put up much of a fight when we found out. Much the opposite actually, so this is almost like a breath of fresh air.”

Suddenly, all those fluttering feeling came to a screeching halt.

Jihoon easily ducked out from under Seungcheol's arm, no longer able to take the heat and weight bearing down on his shoulders.

“Don’t breathe in too deeply, Seungcheol,” started Jihoon, voice somewhere less stinging than a hiss but more than a grumble, “I may be giving you a chance, but that doesn’t mean you can’t lose it for stepping over the line.”

Seungcheol hummed again, his tone a more saddened note this time around.

“I don’t want Jeonghan to be a taboo topic for us to talk about,” Seungcheol reached out from where he sat before brushing his fingers through Jihoon’s fringe so that it fell perfectly over his forehead. “But I guess it’s still too soon, huh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I actually had this completely written like a week ago but only just finally brought myself to finish editing it.


	9. Awareness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick reminder that this fic is rated M and there is Mild Sexual Content ahead!

Jisoo pulled his coat a little tighter around his body, hoping that the light breeze would dissipate sometime soon. He’d never been a fan of chilly weather and he honestly didn’t know how much longer he was planning to stand outside of Jihoon’s apartment complex.

It took a lot of willpower just to bring himself to his current destination and he was finding that it was taking a lot more to finally get himself to enter and go up and knock on Jihoon’s door.

The idea of finally visiting to talk to Jihoon happened spontaneously. Jisoo had the feeling that they both had probably had enough time to finally start plateauing with their respective Soulmates, so today seemed like as good as any to finally have that deep bro to bro talk they both knew they needed.

It had been about a month, give or take a week or two, since that fateful day happened to both him and Jihoon.

So honestly, this talk was probably a few weeks late. But Jisoo couldn't help it, he knew that this wasn't going to be easy for either of them.

Jisoo has known Jihoon for a while, and he’s learned through experience that when it comes to the boy and emotions, it was almost always best to let the boy ride them out and calm down before trying to get him to verbally express them.

Unfortunately, there hadn’t been much rest for Jihoon in the Soulmate department thanks to Seungcheol, whose idea of a break had apparently been a measly week, not nearly enough time for Jihoon in Jisoo’s opinion.

But their relationship was their own thing to sort out and Jisoo has enough on his own plate, having to deal with Jeonghan.

Jeonghan seemed a lot more receptive to Jisoo after finally allowing him to talk with him. But, even with that thought comforting Jisoo's mind, they hadn’t seen each other often. Jisoo tried not to be bitter, but he knew it was because he was still Jeonghan’s dirty secret.

With that thought, Jisoo couldn’t help but pull out his phone and reread the last text conversation between him and Jeonghan, which hadn’t gone according to Jisoo’s plan.

Ever since the Big Fight, Jisoo has seen Jeonghan a total of two times. Not much time had passed in the grand scheme of things and Jisoo understood that. But he was starting to take baby steps towards encouraging Jeonghan to come out and see him more.

They weren’t lacking in the communication department (they texted daily, for many hours out of the day), but that wasn’t going to satisfy Jisoo and his need to physically be with his Soulmate.

Their most recent text fight could be summarized as barely a disagreement, but Jisoo could recognize it for what it was.

Early on, Jisoo realized that he wasn’t going to be the dominating personality in the relationship. How Seungcheol seemed to be able to deal with Jeonghan also with his loud and boisterous personality was beyond Jisoo, but not even he could deny the mysteriousness that was Soulmate dynamics.

The last text Jeonghan had sent was a menagerie of emojis, all conveying the exact same message: Denial.

Jisoo had harmlessly suggested that they meet up for a study date, in a very public place. He didn’t even get a worded rejection, and Jisoo wasn’t really sure what to do with it, so he just left it be.

But that brought Jisoo back to the present, which was him standing in front of a building as the wind chill just seemed to pick up the more Jisoo’s will to enter dissipated as if encouraging him to get out of the weather and into a safe, warm place.

With one last huff, Jisoo finally made up his mind and forced his legs to unstick from the pavement, making his way up the familiar hallways to Jihoon’s apartment.

Jisoo had visited often before the whole Soulmate situation, and this is why he knew that Jihoon was most likely home even without asking beforehand. He didn’t want to set off any red flags to the boy and allow him time to escape this conversation.

Three minutes and four knocks later, Jihoon answered his door. His face conveyed exactly what Jisoo was expecting, surprise at Jisoo’s sudden visit. But it was quick to morph into a scowl.

Jisoo just smiled at how fast witted Jihoon was. They both knew that there would only be one reason why Jisoo would be making an appearance at Jihoon’s door without warning.

But instead of having to catch the door before it was slammed in his face (What Jisoo was preparing for, his foot already slide smoothly into the crack of the door), Jihoon just grumbled a bit before opening the door completely, allowing Jisoo to enter and make himself at home.

Jisoo smiled at Jihoon as he passed by him, happy to see that Jihoon was on the same page as him.

Jisoo was neatly folding his jacket over the back of Jihoon’s run down, cheap couch when Jihoon spoke up.

“So, you and Jeonghan.”

Jisoo sighed indiscreetly through his nose. The nice thing about Jihoon was that he was an all in or all out kind of guy. At least Jisoo wouldn’t have to make awkward small talk all the while trying to steer the conversation in the direction that he wanted it to take.

“Yeah?” encouraged Jisoo as he sat himself down.

“...How’s that going?” finally asked Jihoon, who was taking his own seat on the opposite side of the couch.

“Good, actually. If you take into account that Jeonghan didn’t even know that he was supposed to have a second Soulmate.” Jisoo has found that when it came to talking with Jihoon, it was always easiest if you showed just how much you knew right in the get-go so that you could get down to talking about what really needed to be said as soon as possible.

“That's,” Jihoon exhaled deeply through his nose, body relaxing farther into his own couch, “good to hear.”

Jisoo nodded and a dull silence filled the air. Jihoon seemed to already have a lot on his mind even though only a few sentences had been exchanged.

“So, you’re giving Seungcheol a chance?” asked Jisoo after he deemed an appropriate time of quiet.

“I,” another pause, “think I am? It’s complicated.”

Jihoon wasn’t looking at Jisoo, his hands wringing desperately in his lap. Jisoo figured that was the most he was going to get out of Jihoon at present and even though it wasn’t a particularly long talk, it was nearly groundbreaking that he got that much out of Jihoon in the first place.  

Besides, Jisoo wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon. He was sure that if Jihoon actually had something more to say on the matter, he would get it out of him by the time his visit came to an end.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seungcheol walked into his apartment, unceremoniously dumping his backpack off to the side when he entered. He could hear Jeonghan somewhere behind their entryway wall divider.

“Jeonghan? You home?” called Seungcheol, just before he stepped around, visually confirming that Jeonghan was indeed home before the other could reply. Seungcheol was greeted to the sight of Jeonghan’s hands full of reheated leftovers from last night’s takeout.

“Yeah, just got here actually,” casually replies Jeonghan as he makes his way over to the couch, turning on the TV to some random channel that Seungcheol knew that he wasn’t going to actually pay attention to.

“Did you leave any for me?” asks Seungcheol, already adopting a whine to his voice just in case.

“Of course, of course,” reassures Jeonghan, mouth partially full and attention fully on the television screen, “I learned my lesson from last time.”

“Good,” says Seungcheol, quick to heat up what was left for him. It wasn’t _quite_ as much food as he would have liked, but he’s sure that Jeonghan wouldn’t mind too much if he picked off his plate.

Jeonghan either didn’t hear his backtalk or no longer cares, his attention completely lost from Seungcheol. Seungcheol pays it no mind and easily settles into his unofficial spot on their couch, stuffing his mouth full and easily immersing himself into the show Jeonghan had put on.

It wasn’t until their plates were empty and Jeonghan had settled deep into Seungcheol’s side that conversation picked up again.

“Where’ve you been running off to at school?” asks Jeonghan.

Cautiously, Seungcheol slides his eyes from the TV to Jeonghan, trying to gauge where he was going with this. Seungcheol willed his body to stay relaxed, having almost tensed up due to Jeonghan’s question.

But Seungcheol took the few seconds that Jeonghan was permitting him, the boy still mainly paying attention to the drama that was playing. The only real indicator that Jeonghan had even asked him a question was the slight tilt of his head towards Seungcheol, his eyes directed sideway to keep focused on the screen.

The question was asked innocently, no tint of accusation or anger to his words. They also sounded sincere, nothing like the tone Seungcheol knows Jeonghan had a bad habit of using when he was trying too hard to stay casual when he was actually upset.

It was a question asked out of pure innocent curiosity and Seungcheol wasn't sure if he should be relieved or hurt that Jeonghan apparently wasn’t too upset that their usual routine was starting to unravel.

“Nowhere in particular,” replies Seungcheol, adjusting the arm he had slung over Jeonghan’s shoulders so that he could relax further into the couch. Cool, calm, and collected was Seungcheol. Don’t give any tells to the fact that he had been ditching his first Soulmate for his second.

“Make some new friends?” provides Jeonghan, practically handing Seungcheol his excuse for him.

Seungcheol hums out a confirmative.

“Yeah, I’ve started to eat lunch with them too. Sorry that I never really warned you beforehand.” apologizes Seungcheol, already bracing for the impact that was jealous Jeonghan. He had always been lowkey upset whenever time he originally dedicated to Jeonghan beforehand had started to get overtaken by other people.

“Don’t worry about it,” shrugs off Jeonghan, “I was actually starting to worry that I was turning into your only friend,” snides Jeonghan before leaning forward to pick up a stray piece of rice off their used plates before popping it into his mouth.

Seungcheol gives Jeonghan a strange look that the other mirrors back at him when he leans back to settle into his previous spot.

And Seungcheol almost— _almost_ —pressed the matter. Almost calls Jeonghan out on how he wasn’t saying that two months ago when he stayed behind at the library instead of meeting Jeonghan at their usual lunch spot to catch up on a group project.

But the protest dies off somewhere between his throat and the tip of his tongue.

This is exactly what he wanted. He was dreading the faithful day that Jeonghan would finally call him out on why he was making excuses and ditching lunch with him.

But right now, Jeonghan was comfortably leaning into his side and Seungcheol was doing the most he could to relax into Jeonghan. There was something very off about the small conversation they just had and his body wouldn’t quite allow him to relax without figuring it out.

Was it because he should be upset that Jeonghan was almost dismissive in how little he cared about where Seungcheol was disappearing to? Was it that he almost felt like he was cheating on him in a way by not explaining the situation? Or was it because Seungcheol felt almost no need to be upset that Jeonghan wasn’t paying much attention to him and his actions? Whereas before Jihoon, he could almost admit to being as clingy to Jeonghan as the boy had been to him.

There were too many strange conclusions that could be made, but Seungcheol didn’t get the time to contemplate any of them since he was just pulled out of his lingering thoughts by a hand sliding down his chest.

“You seem stressed,” begins Jeonghan and immediately, all stray thoughts that weren’t Jeonghan and his stray, hot hand pressing onto the fabric of Seungcheol’s shirt left his mind.

“Are you gonna do anything about it?” easily teases Seungcheol, the push and pull that was his and Jeonghan’s sexual relationship coming to him naturally.

Jeonghan smiles but it’s curved a bit too much. More curled than what it should be.

Slowly, almost like the both of them were worried about going too fast, Jeonghan lifts his body up so that he could sling one leg over Seungcheol’s form, now half on his lap.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” questions Seungcheol, mainly just voicing thoughts as he starts to feel small pecks under his jaw and up against his neck.

He could place the blame on himself, having been dragged away from Jeonghan’s side for a brief moment in time. But, once again, there is a small nagging in Seungcheol’s mind at that thought. Why was it so easy for him to get dragged away? Why hadn’t Jeonghan done anything sooner to initiate anything intimate between them? Why hadn’t _he_?

Soft lips had just made it up to the corner of his own and Seungcheol finally tilted his head just enough so he could capture Jeonghan’s lips with his own. It was a simple, soft press, but it brought back so many memories. The feeling was almost something that he had forgotten.

When was the last time that he actually _kissed_ Jeonghan? He can’t remember.

Jeonghan lets out a soft sigh and Seungcheol pressed forward suddenly, straightening his back off the couch so that he can reach down to Jeonghan’s hips and pull the boy closer and properly onto his lap, Jeonghan easily adjusting to the new position.

Both boys then fall into a pattern. They touch and press, chest to chest, kissing deeply and repeatedly. There isn’t really a systematic rhythm to it, nor is it unplanned. It was like both boys had somehow come to the wordless agreement of feeling out the other, both for some reason unsure if they should be proceeding or not.

Which was strange. How many times had the two of them gotten intimate? How many times had Seungcheol pushed Jeonghan roughly onto this exact same couch after a particularly stressful school day? How many times had Jeonghan snuck into Seungcheol’s shower, already undressed and out to impress?

Too many times for Seungcheol to even begin to count off the top of his head as Jeonghan’s warm hand finally took the next step and traveled under Seungcheol’s shirt to press against skin.

They had done this so many times. The push and pull coming so naturally. But the amount wore on Seungcheol, the routine of it must have gotten to his head because when Jeonghan finally rid Seungcheol of his shirt, he couldn’t help but imagine how Jihoon would have gone about it.

Would the boy have pulled at the hem of the shirt, too shy to take it off himself, only giving hints to Seungcheol that he wanted it off? Or would he tug it off almost recklessly, his straightforward personality shining through even in such situations?

Jeonghan was sitting up straight and pulling his own shirt off the top of his head. Seungcheol gazed over the smooth planes of skin habitually. He brought both his hands up to slide down Jeonghan’s trim waist. His skin felt hot against his cool palms.

Unconsciously, Seungcheol pulled his hands away to rub his fingers together. His hands felt clammy for some reason.

Jeonghan then leaned down again, pressing hot kisses from under his ear all the way down to his collarbones. Seungcheol rubbed his hands over Jeonghan’s slightly hunched over back and couldn’t help but imagine how perfect the fit would be if the boy in his lap was just a bit shorter.

The sound of Jeonghan’s text notification going off nearly startles the boys, both seemingly knocked out of deep thought. Jeonghan turns a bit in Seungcheol’s lap, just so he could eye the phone that sat on the coffee table behind him. For a second, Seungcheol could have sworn the boy was about to climb off him so that he could check it.

Instead, Jeonghan turned back, a new type of determination in his eyes. He went back to kissing at Seungcheol’s skin with a new kind of fever. The only thing Seungcheol really took in was the feeling of excess spit cooling on his skin as Jeonghan made a trail. An uncomfortable feeling.

A few more minutes passed, the two kissing in a new kind of tone, drawn out by Jeonghan pushing forward harder, rolling his lips a bit faster.

Seungcheol wasn’t even consciously aware that something was really off until Jeonghan finally slid a hand down from Seungcheol’s neck to the front of his pants, Jeonghan’s slightly breathless, but tinged with worry, voice filling the air.

“Not feeling it tonight?” asks Jeonghan, his hand pressing almost painfully onto his soft dick.

Embarrassment suddenly flares up hot and all-consuming in Seungcheol’s chest. Seungcheol grabs at Jeonghan’s arms roughly before manhandling him off himself and onto the couch, large form easily towing over the suddenly laying boy, taking over the situation in one grand movement.

Jeonghan looked up at Seungcheol, borderline surprised, only to probably see the same flame of determination in Seungcheol’s eyes that filled Jeonghan’s own not five minutes earlier.

Jeonghan got the hint easily and continued on with no questions asked. He lifted his arms, easily wounding them around Seungcheol’s neck as he leaned down to finally return the favor of kisses and licks to Jeonghan’s neck, determined to enjoy this.

But, the universe must have been against him his night, (Or maybe since forever?) because just when Seungcheol was finally getting into it. Right when Seungcheol was finally able to enjoy the small whines that fell from Jeonghan’s lips. Finally, when Jeonghan’s writhing under Seungcheol, his ministrations, and Jeonghan’s reactions finally seeped in enough to bring forth a deep heat in Seungcheol.

But, just then, the room was filled once again with a text notification, but this time from Seungcheol’s phone. His body involuntarily locked up when he recognized the sound. More specifically, when he recognized Jihoon’s set text sound.

Jihoon never texts him first.

Seungcheol’s body felt rigid and his hands felt clammy from where they had been in the middle of pulling down Jeonghan’s waistband.

A flood of embarrassment rushed through Seungcheol’s body, inexplicably ashamed of the position that he was in. Hovering over Jeonghan’s half naked form, fingertips caught under the fabric of his pants.

“I—” starts Seungcheol, but stops just as soon as he started. What was he going to say? What excuse could he even begin to form to explain to Jeonghan that he can’t get it up because the boy underneath him didn’t fit the criteria that he wanted? That the very thought and reminder that it was Jeonghan under him and _not_ Jihoon was hindering to the point of rendering him incapable of getting turned on?

He’s broken out of his thoughts by a deep sigh, Jeonghan’s voice weary and mainly just tired from under him.

“Yeah,” says Jeonghan as his fingers threaded through the long strands of his hair, only briefly getting stuck until Jeonghan pulled out the small knots. “I’m not really in the mood either.”

Jeonghan then sits up and Seungcheol follows the momentum, now sitting back on his heels as Jeonghan finishes straightening out his hair before reaching over to retrieve his phone.

Seungcheol stares on, almost in shock at the turn of events. But like almost everything that evolves him and Jeonghan’s relationship nowadays, Seungcheol just shakes out his own hair and ignores it. He doesn’t give it too much thought as he turns to first grab his shirt off the floor and then his phone.

He’s just mainly grateful that Jeonghan was apparently on the same page as him.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I usually hate it when people get too touchy-feely, but Seungcheol? Sometimes— sometimes I don’t even realize he has his arm on me. And he _smells_ good, you know?” emphasizes Jihoon, squishing a couch cushion closer to his chest, “That’s weird of me to say, isn't it?”

Jisoo waves off Jihoon easily.

“Nah man, I wish _I_ knew if Jeonghan smelt good.” Jisoo licked his chapped lips before taking a deep gulp of his drink. His tone had almost gotten as bitter as his beer and that was never good.

Jisoo had only planned on staying for a little bit, but he guesses staying the night wasn't a bad option either. Especially when drunk Jihoon was guaranteed more fun than sober Jihoon.

Jihoon sighed deeply from his side of the couch as Jisoo watched the liquid swirl around his bottle. He really wasn't much of a drinker, but he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity that was presenting itself when Jihoon had walked over to his refrigerator and offered Jisoo a drink.

And if Jihoon was as self-aware as Jisoo was when it came to his actions (which he was), Jihoon knew exactly what presenting alcohol to their talk meant.

In comparison, Jisoo hadn't nearly had as much alcohol as Jihoon. Jihoon might have thought he was being sneaky, but the appearance of an empty shot glass on his kitchen counter after Jisoo had taken a quick bathroom break hadn't gone unnoticed.

It was somewhere between “Do you think they've had sex?” and “Does this mean that— that if you get married to Jeonghan and _I_ get married to Seungcheol, and then _they_ get married that us— _we_ should get married?” that Jisoo realized that Jihoon was thoroughly sloshed.

Jisoo didn't blame him. If anything, he slightly wished that he was on Jihoon level so that he could join in with how much fun Jihoon apparently could have with practicing a choke hold on a pillow.

“How often do you guys text?” asked Jisoo, already pulling out his own phone at the thought. He was starting to feel a little guilty for not replying beforehand, but he felt that Jeonghan deserved the small amount of silent treatment. If anything, he probably shouldn't be texting back at all, but with all this Soulmate talk, Jisoo was starting to miss him.

Jihoon harshly blew out air from his lips, causing a crude sound to fill the apartment. “He texts me, but I don't like replying.”

“Why not?” asks Jisoo, his eyes never leaving the half-formed text on his phone.

There was a deep pause and after Jisoo sent his text, he looked up to Jihoon, who had a strange expression on his face. His lips were screwed together tightly and he glared up at nothing particular. Finally, he replied with a heavy shrug.

“I just never did. When I was gung-ho on Seungcheol _not_ being my Soulmate, it made sense. But now? Wouldn't it just be weird now if I started to actually text him?”

“No?” replied Jisoo. It really confused Jisoo how Jihoon could be so smart but so _dumb_ sometimes. “Here, let me see your phone.”

“No!” yelled Jihoon as he haphazardly lunged for the phone that Jisoo had just grabbed.

“Let me do it!” nearly pleaded Jihoon as he tried to pry each of Jisoo’s fingers individually off his phone. But Jisoo would easily just replace whatever finger Jihoon had managed to get off the phone when he would move onto the next.

Jisoo couldn't help but laugh at Jihoon’s struggle. “Fine, I'll give it to you if you go get me a shot of whatever you've been drinking.”

Instantly, Jihoon was catapulting himself off the couch and into his small kitchen section, nearly dropping the shot glass in his haste to get back to Jisoo.

Jisoo laughed as Jihoon tried to lift the glass to Jisoo's lips for him, but he easily took hold of the drink from Jihoon's fumbling fingers. A deep breath and Jisoo tipped the liquid into his mouth.

“Holy _shit_ , how have you been drinking this stuff?” sputtered out Jisoo after he just barely managed to get the diesel fuel down his throat.

Jihoon just looked at him with dead eyes. “I do what I gotta do,” said Jihoon before breaking out into a fit of giggles.

“Here, take your phone,” said Jisoo, nearly shoving Jihoon's phone into his hands, “Now text Seungcheol.”

Jihoon looked down at his phone with a perplexed look, like he had forgotten that he had been trying to get it back in the first place.

“....But what do I say?” asked Jihoon after a long pause. He looked up to Jisoo with pleading eyes.

“Oh my—,” Jisoo held out his hand, “give me that.”

Jihoon easily forfeited the phone but quickly crawled over to Jisoo's side of the couch, peering over Jisoo's shoulder to read what he was typing.

Which wasn’t anything quite yet as Jisoo scrolled up through their past text logs.

“Do you guys even _talk_ about anything besides you?” asks Jisoo, noticing a pattern early on.

Jisoo looks back to see Jihoon’s face scrunched up, obviously mulling over his question seriously.

“...No. I don’t think so,” finally answers Jihoon, not looking like he quite gets where Jisoo is going with this.

“What’s Seungcheol majoring in?”

“I don’t know.”

“Does he live on his own?”

“I’m pretty sure he probably lives with Jeonghan,” grumbled Jihoon bitterly.

Jisoo rolls his eyes. “Do you know _anything_ about him? Does he have a job? Is he a sophomore like us? His favorite _color?_ ”

A long pause. Jihoon scratched at his arm, gaze low before he finally could look up to meet Jisoo’s eyes again.

“......We don’t talk about him much.”

“ _Obviously!_ ” shouts Jisoo, finally knowing what he’s going to message Seungcheol.

“Wait, what are you typing? Let me see,” says Jihoon as he pulls at Jisoo’s shoulder.

A simply worded, 'Tell me about yourself' was sent before Jisoo tossed Jihoon’s phone off to the side of the couch, a smug expression on his face.

“Pour me out another, because you’re nearly in shambles Soulmate relationship has a chance once again," Jisoo stretches out his arms before pulling them back to pillow them behind his head, looking very smug, "thanks to me.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. Have no excuses for either the amount of time that it took me to post this or for what happened in the chapter.


	10. Discussion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuses.
> 
> Also, there may be some tiny mistakes here and there and I apologize in advance but I _really_ don't feel like reading over this one last time when I COULD BE POSTING IT

The day was bright and sunny, no trace of the slight chill that had been hanging around for the last week or so.

Jisoo had found a nice flourishing spot of grass under one of the many trees that grew on campus. To anybody looking or passing by, Jisoo was just another student that wanted to enjoy the weather since many other students had also found refuge under their very own trees.

But the thing that was different with Jisoo as opposed to the other students was the fact that he only found himself in his spot due to a ‘secret rendezvous’; Jeonghan’s words. The palms of his hands felt a little too moist to the touch, even in the balmy weather. He couldn’t help but fidget his phone in his hands, checking the time constantly.

Jeonghan had finally agreed to another meetup. This would be Jisoo’s fourth time actually talking face to face with the boy and Jisoo was excited but equally worried. There was something odd in the fact that only a few days earlier, Jeonghan had shut down the idea instantly, sometimes seemingly before Jisoo could even send the text containing the inquiry.

But this time around, when Jisoo had once again suggested meeting up sometime, he had received a very easy going “Sure, when are where?”

The message was short and to the point, but there were so many aspects that worried Jisoo to no bound. Why now? What happened to cause the change in Jeonghan’s determinedness to denying any more meetups? Why didn’t he care about the details of the meetup? With the previous two meetups, Jeonghan had to have very specific details and requirements set up beforehand.

His new flippant attitude was worrying, to say the least.

After five minutes of nervous phone twiddling and jittery hair fluffs, Jisoo was nearly scared out of his skin when Jeonghan practically threw his backpack down next to Jisoo before following its lead, flopping down next to Jisoo on the grass. Jeonghan let out a long groan of displeasure at the action.

“Why did you haveta suggest under some tree outside? Why not somewhere with actual seats? Or air conditioning?”

“Well, you’re the one who agreed,” said Jisoo, a little amused with Jeonghan’s instant complaining. It really helped his nerves that Jeonghan appeared put together. “Besides, the weather is great today.”

“Yes yes, it’s perfectly nice out,” says Jeonghan as he pulls his backpack over to sit on, blatantly disregarding the fact that he had probably crumpled everything inside.

Jisoo couldn’t help but take a few seconds to just take in Jeonghan. His hair wasn’t quite as long as it had been a few months ago when Jisoo had first seen him. Sometime along the way, the boy had cut it shorter, but the front bangs still held some length and when Jeonghan brushed his fingers through it, it left his hair looking perfectly mussed and stylish.

But as Jisoo started to take in more of the boy sitting next to him, he couldn’t not notice the slight wrinkle in between Jeonghan’s eyebrows and the unnatural angle his tense shoulders were at.

“Something’s wrong,” voices Jisoo when he puts all the clues together.

Slowly, albeit shakily, Jeonghan let’s out a deep sigh that takes the stress of his shoulders with it.

“Yes, something’s wrong,” says Jeonghan, apparently ready to talk.

Instantly, there’s a flash of fear that spikes from Jisoo’s heart and ricochets around in his veins. Was _he_ the something that was wrong? Was that why Jeonghan didn’t resist this meetup? To finally let Jisoo know that yeah, it’s been an okay few weeks but enough is enough.

Jisoo took a deep, calming breath through his nose. No point getting worked up until he knew for sure what Jeonghan’s problem is. Maybe, hopefully, it’s something mundane and pointless and has absolutely nothing to do with Jisoo at all.

“Is there something I can do to help?” finally forces out Jisoo, just barely able to sound not quite as scared as he felt.

“Do you…,” begins Jeonghan, seemingly oblivious to Jisoo’s mild mental breakdown, apparently too preoccupied with collecting his own thoughts and trying to stave off his own mental breakdown. Another calming breath before Jeonghan finally manages to get his worried thoughts out.

“Do you think I’m cheating on Seungcheol? With all these secret meetups and such?”

“Well, granted, this is only our third time meeting up,” jokes Jisoo. But the look Jeonghan glowers at him is a blatant sign that he needed to put these self-protective jokes aside for the time being.

“I guess,” started Jisoo before taking a pause to really think over what his answer was going to be.

“It would depend on what your definition of ‘cheating’ is, I think,” says Jisoo, just barely able to keep eye contact with Jeonghan as he says it. “If you think cheating is getting physically intimate with someone then, no you haven’t. But if you consider cheating as going to meet up with your S-soulmate without your boyfriend knowing, then yes you have, if that makes sense,” finishes Jisoo unconfidently, having even stuttered over calling himself Jeonghan’s Soulmate.

The idea of Jeonghan being his Soulmate is practically unreachable when Jeonghan was basically just a bunch of text messages on his phone. It was sad that he could confidently tell Jihoon that, given their circumstances, that his Soulmate relationship was doing well. But in reality, he wasn't very confident that Jeonghan was going to stick with him, even after his sudden boost in courage the day him and Jeonghan started talking.

But right now, Jeonghan was looking at Jisoo like he had just said something profound, and not the jumble of vomited words he had come up with on the spot in a desperate attempt to make his Soulmate feel better.

“You know, I think you and Seungcheol would get along,” says Jeonghan randomly, still giving Jisoo a look like he had actually gotten something out of that sad excuse of consoling. He had even said that Jeonghan _was_ cheating if that was his idea of cheating! “No wonder the both of you are my Soulmates.”

But now Jisoo’s face was feeling hot. Was that a compliment? Was Jisoo supposed to take that as a good thing? Jeonghan said it like it was a good thing. It made Jisoo _feel_ like it was a good thing if the butterflies in his stomach were anything to go by.

Jisoo’s face only went redder when he remembered that he and Seungcheol actually did get along pretty well, but that wasn’t something Jeonghan would know about.

As Jisoo tried to calm his heart and regulate the temperature of his face, Jeonghan just smiled at him, fully aware of his effect on Jisoo.

“It’s funny and I don’t really get it, but you and Seungcheol both make me happy, but in different ways,” continued Jeonghan.

That catches Jisoo’s attention in both a very worried and a very hopeful way. What Jeonghan had just hinted at was something that has been in the back of Jisoo’s mind since the beginning of this whole ordeal, ever since Jeonghan had told him that Seungcheol had a second Soulmate. From there, Jisoo had been keeping an eye out for any evidence for his suspicion. So putting aside the fact that Jeonghan could only keep comparing the two of them, he tries to probe for more information.

“What do you mean ‘in different ways’?” asks Jisoo, trying to keep his voice steady. They must have only been sitting under this tree together for five minutes, but the many emotions that Jisoo had experienced from finally being in the presence of his Soulmate has made it feel like so much more time has passed.

Jeonghan finally looks away, allowing Jisoo to pull himself together, unable to do so under the gaze that just pulls him apart. But Jisoo learns that Jeonghan’s words could wreak him far worse then his gaze could.

Jeonghan seemed hesitant, but only for a second.

“I tried to have sex with Seungcheol the other day.”

Jisoo could nearly hear the screech of his blood halting in his veins. His fingertips tingled and he suddenly felt a small sway to his head, instantly grateful that he had been sitting for the proclamation.

Jisoo’s mind rushed a mile a minute at Jeonghan’s words. Was Jeonghan here to stop whatever was going on between them or was he here to give Jisoo hope? Because this brief conversation has teetered between both options way too rapidly for Jisoo’s poor heart. Jeonghan doesn’t wait for a reply or a reaction from Jisoo before continuing, which Jisoo was grateful.

“The keyword here is ‘tired’ though,” continues Jeonghan. Maybe that had been why he had looked away, so that he could say what he wanted to say without having to see Jisoo crumble and then get pulled back together in a matter of seconds. “We didn’t in the end, which is strange. But the strangest part was that I’m _totally okay with that._ ”

Jeonghan finally looks back to Jisoo and he can’t quite read the emotions he’s facing. Jeonghan looks troubled but the tone his voice takes sounds… relieved. His eyes are wide, something almost hysterical gleaming in the corners.

“I can tell something’s going on with him. He’s been different and we haven’t been talking or hanging out and he’s been okay with that happening. But the thing is that _I’m_ okay with him being okay with that because _I’m_ also okay with the fact we haven’t been hanging out as much because instead of wanting to be with him, I want to be with _you_ ! You’ve been occupying my mind and I’ve only been wanting to be with you or I’ve just been re-reading our texts and I don’t understand how I would favor one Soulmate over the other and I don’t understand how when I’m about to have mind-blowing sex with my Soulmate, my heart isn’t in it because the only reason I initiated it in the first place was because I was upset that _you_ were ignoring me and the reason why we didn't finish was because _you texted me back_ and there wasn’t much more in my life that I wanted than to check what you said but I was upset with how much power you have over me and _I don’t understand_ so I hope you can understand why something is wrong.”

Jeonghan finally pauses to take a much needed breath, mildly fracturing the tension that had built up as each word spilled out of Jeonghan’s mouth.

The silence between them was thick, not even the low murmur of passing students or the random caw of a nearby blackbird penetrated the cloud of tension hanging over their heads.

“I—,” begins Jisoo, but breaks off to suddenly wet his dry lips, “I think I need a moment.”

Jisoo then promptly flops onto his back, the weight of everything Jeonghan had just confessed finally taking on too much pressure to even stay sitting up.

A dull laugh emits from Jeonghan, but it’s much more of just something done to fill the space that was reserved for a response.

A few more moments pass and Jisoo has yet to even begin working on any sort of intelligent response. His head is swimming with incomplete thoughts, unable to become whole since the rest of his headspace was occupied by his ever shifting emotions. Was he supposed to be upset? Hearing that Jeonghan had tried to have sex with someone else out of spite definitely warranted an upset response.

But there was more in between the lines, reasons and extraneous factors that needed to be accounted for. Jeonghan had every right to try and stay active in his relationship with Seungcheol, since technically, Jisoo wasn’t Jeonghan’s boyfriend.

Jeonghan really didn’t owe him anything when it came to a relationship or holding off on any sort of boyfriend activities since all they really had together was their Soulmate bond and honestly, that wasn’t much when he considered the fact that he wasn’t Jeonghan’s only Soulmate.

But instead of being upset, Jisoo felt a slimy sense of possession and pride in the fact that _he_ was the thoughts that were filling Jeonghan’s mind. That he hasn’t been alone in the fact that he couldn’t get the other out of their mind. To even think that Jeonghan had been too focused and worried over _him_ to even finish swelt up a spot in his chest he didn’t even know he had, apparently solely reserved for the possession he felt over Jeonghan.

His first impulse thought was to say, ‘Good, keep only thinking of me.’ But that thought had flown away before it could even find any kind of footing in Jisoo’s mind.

There was something more that Jisoo needed to get out of Jeonghan’s monologue. There was meaning behind the fact that he, for some reason, held Jisoo at a higher place than Seungcheol in Jeonghan’s mind right now. (He was trying really hard to not let his deeply beating heart get in the way of his analyzing, but it was hard.)

The first part of Jisoo’s brain, the small, insecure part, wanted to explain it away as the honeymoon phase. That Jeonghan has had Seungcheol, and the novelty and new feelings Jisoo brought along were the reasons behind Jeonghan’s sudden apathetic feelings towards his relationship with Seungcheol.

But, just maybe, the small thing Jisoo has been speculating and collecting evidence on was actually true? What if this was only further evidence.

No, this could be _the_ evidence. The one that could be the deciding factor.

“Jeonghan,” finally spoke up Jisoo from his position on the floor, hands having come up to intertwine together before finding rest on his stomach, “can I ask you a few questions that you promise to answer honestly?”

Jeonghan seemed surprised at the route their conversation was taking after the long pause Jisoo had taken, but he seemed to roll with it well enough.

“What kind of questions?” asked back Jeonghan. He seemed apprehensive, shifting nervously from his seat on his backpack.

“It’s relevant to what you were just talking about, I swear.”

The second the words left his mouth, he realized they probably didn’t categorize as ‘comforting’ words, but either way, Jeonghan seemed to consider getting interrogated a little more than before.

“..What if I don’t want to answer honestly?” finally mumbles out Jeonghan, fiddling a bit with some strands of hair that fell right in front of his eyes.

“It’s important that you do.”

That didn’t seem to sway Jeonghan in the least bit. Jisoo realized he needed to give the boy at least as much information as he could before getting him to agree.

“I just, there’s been something I’ve been,” a pause, “looking into ever since I heard that you and Seungcheol both have two Soulmates. It seemed like such a significant and noncoincidental situation that I needed to look into. I’ve always been a fan of Soulmate dynamics and to have two Soulmates is rare enough that there isn’t much information on it out there. But there are theories. So I guess this is me trying to prove if one of those theories is right.”

The two look at each other for a few seconds, Jeonghan taking in Jisoo’s explanation as to where the impromptu Q and A had come from while Jisoo tries to convey without words how serious this was for him.

Because if he was right… It could solve so many problems for all of them involved, not just him and Jeonghan.

“Alright,” agrees Jeonghan, tone somber with the mood, “but only because it’s you asking,” says Jeonghan, tone lightening as he tries to break the monotony of heaviness hanging around them.

Spurred on by not only the fact that what was said here could change how they perceived their Soulmate status, Jisoo was also just downright excited to learn more about Soulmate dynamics in general. He turned to rummage around in his backpack before producing a pen and notebook.

“You're going to take notes?” asked Jeonghan, one eyebrow quirked. “Is this therapy now? Hold on, let me get comfortable first.”

Jisoo smiled as he watched Jeonghan make a show out of laying down, even trying to fluff his backpack from its previous smashed state into a nice pillow to lay his head on. When settled, Jeonghan waved a hand around a bit, signaling that he was ready.

“Alright.” Jisoo looked down at his blank notebook. Where to start? “These may get invasive, but please try to answer honestly.”

“I get it, I get it.” Jeonghan waved his hand around again, trying to keep the heavy atmosphere at bay. “Enough of the disclaimer, I understand and I’ll comply.”

“Okay, well, let’s start at the beginning of yours and Seungcheol’s relationship then.” The words slightly stung on the way off his tongue, never quite happy when referring to their relationship. A deep breath to finally compartmentalize his emotions for a different time and Jisoo looked to Jeonghan for an answer, pen poised to write. “How did you feel when you found Seungcheol?”

“Happy,” was Jeonghan’s immediate answer. “Finding my Soulmate was just one last thing I was going to have to do with my life. And for him to turn out to be Seungcheol, someone I immediately got along with was just an added bonus. Somehow we already had a lot of the same interests and I remember being so amazed that talking with him was the most comfortable I had ever been when talking to someone.”

There was a light in Jeonghan’s eyes, one that rubbed a sore spot into Jisoo’s soul, so he focused only on the words he was writing. It almost made it worse, getting a repeat of Jeonghan’s adoration towards Seungcheol back at him. Jeonghan must have read the crease in between Jisoo’s eyebrows correctly, because Jeonghan’s warm hand came up to Jisoo’s knee, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Is that the only question you got in ya?” asked Jeonghan playfully, trying in his own way to help quell the jealous emotions stubbornly sticking to the pit of Jisoo’s stomach.

A deep breath from Jisoo. He needed to focus. He needed to hear what Jeonghan was saying, no matter how green it tinted Jisoo’s emotions.

“How about how you felt when you learned that Seungcheol had another Soulmark?”

“I was so upset, Jisoo,” began Jeonghan, his own eyebrows now knitting together at the memory. “And he never actually told me, he just let me find out on my own.”

Unconsciously, Jisoo’s cheeks went a bit pink when he remembered just where Seungcheol’s Soulmark for Jihoon was.

“He has this bad habit of thinking he’s protecting people by just not saying anything until he feels like it’s necessary. I guess I can see where he’s coming from, thinking that way, but it still hurt finding out that he had a second Soulmate on my own,” muses Jeonghan, sounding like a man who has been acquainted with Seungcheol’s tendency on more than just a handful of occasions.

Jisoo was still jotting down a few words when Jeonghan mumbled out a few words.

“That was back when I didn’t know I was going to have a second Soulmate myself.”

Jisoo hummed a pleased note at the mention of himself.

“Did you ever hold romantic feelings for Seungcheol when you first found out that he was your Soulmate?” asks Jisoo, picking his choice of words carefully.

“Well yeah, of course, he’s my Soulmate,” answers Jeonghan easily.

“How about now? Do you still hold the same romantic feelings you did at the beginning?” Jisoo’s tone was clipped, trying to keep any sort of emotions he was feeling from accidentally spilling into them.

This time, an answer didn’t immediately come. Jisoo looks to see Jeonghan chewing on his bottom lip, really mulling over the question.

“Now? If I’m…. completely honest,” speaks Jeonghan, a lost kind of look overtaking his eyes. Like he’s confronting his feeling but isn’t quite sure just where they came from. “It feels like I’m living with an ex. Like, I know I still love him. There’s nothing in this world that can change that. But this love,” Jeonghan looks to his palms like they would hold the answer, “It’s almost like, and it’s strange since nothing like this has ever happened to me before, but it feels like I blinked or maybe woke up, and I missed something that happened. Like somehow, when I was sleeping we mutually agreed that we loved each other but that we were better off friends. And then when I woke up, I didn’t remember ever talking about it but the finalized feelings still remained.

“So I guess my final answer would be yes and no. I still love him, but it’s like it transformed into something else to accommodate you.”

Jisoo breathed out deeply and wrote down extensive notes. What Jeonghan had just said was significant. It leaned him closer to believing his theory.

“And now,” started Jisoo, but the words seemed to stick in his throat, “how do you feel about me?”

Jeonghan turned in his spot, catching Jisoo’s eyes easily with his own. Jeonghan took his own deep breath.

“Well, if I wanted to stick with the metaphors,” Jeonghan huffed out a small amused sound, “I would say what I feel for you feels something like a fire. An all consuming feeling I can’t seem to quite get a hold on. I feel a lot of emotions I never knew a stranger could rise out of me. Just knowing you were my Soulmate at first was what caused it. But now?

“Now, just getting a text from you out of the blue can brighten my mood. Knowing that I’ve already let you down a few times ruins me. Makes me want to take back every word I had sent you, just to right the wrong I did to you. The way you phrase your texts and even the shine in your eyes in that one photo you sent me stays in my mind well past it should. You captivate me and knowing that there's so much about you that I don't know yet frustrates me to no end.

“It feels like it was infatuation at first but every new thing I get just makes me feel like I would absolutely love to fall in love with you, Jisoo.”

There were a few beats of silence between the two, the only sounds around were the leaves rustling above them in a cool breeze.

“Oh shit, are you crying?”

Jisoo raised one hand and, yep, those were definitely tears that were falling onto his cheeks. Jeonghan’s voice sounded both surprised and maybe a little bit endeared. That made Jisoo want to cry all the harder now that he realized what he was doing.

Jisoo covered his face, embarrassed at himself. Who knew that someone saying such pretty but cliche words could bring him to tears. But he tried not to beat himself up too much in the moment, they were words said to _him_ by his _Soulmate_. If Jisoo couldn’t allow himself to be crying tears of happiness over something like that, he didn’t know what he could then.

“Oh come on, what I said wasn’t that great.” But there was a smile in Jeonghan’s words. Jisoo felt warm hands over his own before they tried to pull a bit. “This is by far the cutest thing that has ever happened in front of me.”

Jisoo clamped his hands over his face with renewed strength. No way was he going to show off his undoubtedly puffy and red face to someone who just said him crying was something that was cute.

Jeonghan huffed a bit and must have realized that he really embarrassed Jisoo now, since he pulled his hands away, no longer trying to get Jisoo to unhide himself.

Instead, he just shifted himself a bit so that he was sitting next to Jisoo before laying his arm over Jisoo’s shoulders so he could pull Jisoo close, motioning for Jisoo to rest his head onto his shoulder.

“Hey now, don’t cry,” said Jeonghan, the hand on Jisoo’s shoulder now rubbing up and down comfortingly. They sat like that for a minute or two, Jisoo slowly allowing himself to lean more into the comfort Jeonghan was providing.

Surprisingly, Jeonghan’s voice spoke up once again.

“Not to ruin the moment, since this is pretty cute in general, but I did want to say that I’m sorry.”

The small remnants of Jisoo’s tears dried up at that. There was a small leap in his chest, hopeful. He couldn’t help but hope Jeonghan was apologizing for what Jisoo _hoped_ he was apologizing for. So he kept silent and waited for Jeonghan to finish.

Jisoo could feel Jeonghan’s shoulder raise a bit from a deep breath, seemingly composing himself before he continued.

“For that time, when we first found out we were Soulmates. I was a huge asshole and I was scared and confused and, and I just gave Seungcheol _so much_ shit over his second Soulmark and I was afraid that I was suddenly a hypocrite and I didn’t even _know_ that a second Soulmate was even a possibility for me and sorry for the excuses but I realized that I just— I never _really_ apologized for what I did, for ignoring you, for saying ‘I don’t need you’, did I? So, I’m sorry.”

Jisoo just laid in his situated spot, hands still covering most of his face as he took in Jeonghan’s words. Even though he had only been quoting himself, the words ‘I don’t need you’ still stung. If Jisoo really concentrated, he could hear them in his memory, in the same uncaring tone Jeonghan had spit them at him.

But Jisoo didn’t want to. That was the past and he actually had Jeonghan right here, right now, apologizing for saying those words.

Jisoo sighed, before pulling his head up off Jeonghan’s shoulder. Jeonghan looked over to watch Jisoo scrub away any remnants of his tears with poorly concealed worry.

“Of course I forgive you,” began Jisoo, slightly amused at the relieved slouch that passed through Jeonghan’s body, “I want to say I’m sorry too.”

“For what?” Jeonghan looked genuinely confused as to why, and for that Jisoo was grateful.

“For my own actions that day. I shouldn’t have ever yelled at you, I actually _shoved_ you.” Jisoo would never admit just how awful he felt when he finally had time to reflect back on his actions, and he was happy that he was finally able to properly apologize for it. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have and I deeply regret it.”

When Jisoo looked up to Jeonghan’s eyes, he was surprised to see a playful smile on his face. Jisoo rose his eyebrows at that sight.

“Of course I forgive you,” said Jeonghan, quoting back Jisoo’s own words, before shifting so he could lay his head onto Jisoo’s shoulder this time. “And if I’m going to be honest, it was actually kinda hot.”

Jisoo slapped at Jeonghan’s thigh, which Jeonghan could only laugh at.

Jisoo could feel the heat on his face. He wasn’t prepared for a playfully flirty Jeonghan. Not now, and he didn’t know if he ever would be.

Jeonghan just laughed one final time before brushing at Jisoo’s bangs, fixing how they fell onto his forehead. He didn’t press or tease about his obviously red face and once again, Jisoo was grateful. It made Jisoo chest warm this time around, feeling perfectly content and happy.

Was this what it was supposed to feel like when you were with your Soulmate?

It made Jisoo smile once again, but it also reminded him of what his true plans had been when he started up their impromptu Q and A session.

“What’s up?” asked Jeonghan. Jisoo’s change in thoughts must have shown enough on his face that Jeonghan could see.

Jisoo pursed his lips. Did he really want to ruin this? He was feeling warm. Warmer than he had been in a real long time and Jeonghan’s arm was still pressed up against his own and this was his Soulmate. Holy shit, he doesn’t think he will ever quite get over that.

But this was more than just him and Jeonghan. Sadly, things were much more complicated and even though Jisoo was (trying to be) understanding about Jeonghan’s double Soulmate situation, Jisoo knew that Jihoon was still having trouble.

He had watched as Jihoon would smile secretly at his phone when he got a text from Seungcheol. But Jisoo also still saw the storm in his eyes, saw just how much Jihoon was struggling with the situation.

If there was anything Jisoo could do to help out Jihoon, he would readily do it in a heartbeat. And if Jisoo’s theory was correct, if his thought process was correct, this would (hopefully) help out with all of their situations _immensely_.

“I just realized that we got really sidetracked,” said Jisoo, reaching out to pick up his forgotten notebook from where it fell.

“Oh yeah,” said Jeonghan, having also completely forgotten what they were originally doing and as to why their little confession time had even started.

After Jeonghan made a show of getting comfortable, moving back to lay down on his poor crushed backpack again. He waved his hand in a moving along motion. “As you were.”

Jisoo swallowed around his tongue, nerves working their way up his throat again. Just because he thought this might help in the end, doesn’t mean that it couldn’t go horribly wrong somewhere along the way.

Before he could doubt himself anymore, Jisoo allowed his mouth to at least say words.

“So, I have a theory. A working theory,” Jisoo motions vaguely at his notebook, “Something I have been thinking about it for a really long time, ever since I heard that you and Seungcheol both have a second Soulmark. And I just want you to know that I would never say or even _imply_ what I’m about to say without thinking that there might be some actual proof or basis towards it.”

Jisoo’s words were coming out fast now that he was finally letting the dam of words flow. These thoughts had basically been labeled a taboo topic in Jisoo mind, since he never wanted to accidentally say something he shouldn’t have to either Jeonghan or Jihoon. To finally say his thoughts—his theory—it was equally as relieving as it was terrifying, and all that was left was a jumbled mess of words that tumbled out of his mouth.

Jisoo looked to Jeonghan, whose eyebrows were now a bit raised. He was obviously trying to to be patient as Jisoo made his way to finally getting to his point.

Jisoo finally got to the point.

“I think you and Seungcheol are platonic Soulmates.”

A few, nerve wrecking heartbeats later and then.

“What?”

Jeonghan sat up to give Jisoo an incredulous look. Jisoo’s pulse was thumping heard in his veins. Jeonghan was looking more and more affronted the longer the silence stretched. Jisoo needed to explain.

“I mean, everything you’ve said to me aligns with that theory, don’t you think?” Jisoo looked down to his notes, ready to source back some things Jeonghan said if need be. But when he looked down, they were just a jumbled mess of letters morphing together under Jisoo’s panicked gaze. Now that he said it out loud wasn’t he being entirely assumptious?

Sure, the few answers that Jeonghan had answered for Jisoo _did_ point towards his theory. Jeonghan feeling like he was living with an Ex. Jeonghan’s full bodied shift towards a difference Soulmate the second Jisoo was presented. Even Jeonghan’s first impression of Seungcheol made Jisoo believe his theory was correct.

But the longer Jisoo thought on it, he couldn’t help but teeter back and forth on whether or not he had any right to finally put that out there. Who was he to make such a bold statement on a relationship he knew next to nothing about? Just because Jeonghan had said some pretty words and see Seungcheol’s own actions towards Jihoon didn’t mean he had a right to downplay Jeonghan’s and Seungcheol’s relationship.

But then, a small, much greedier part of Jisoo’s mind whispered to him. But this is science. This is a Soulmate bond. There are laid out facts that scientist have discovered and the discovery of Platonic Soulmates wasn’t exactly a new one, but much more rare.

Finally, Jisoo looked up to Jeonghan. He looked lost. Confused. But nothing too worrisome yet, so Jisoo hardened his resolve. He took the plunge, said his case, and there was only one thing left to do. Which was to prove that he wasn’t just spitting the disillusioned words of a jealous Second Soulmate.

“How about this. How about I present some facts and see how you feel about them. And if I get anything wrong along the way, please correct me.” said Jisoo. Now that he was in deep water, he might as well keep swimming.

Once again, Jeonghan didn’t look fully convinced, just like he had been when Jisoo first presented the idea of their Q and A earlier. But this time, Jeonghan relented faster this time around. Maybe he trusted Jisoo a bit more with his feelings after their first session.

Jisoo just hoped he didn’t screw this up.

“...Alright.” finally voiced Jeonghan, but didn’t move to get more comfortable this time around. He just shifted his body so he was now facing Jisoo. “But I wasn’t even aware that platonic Soulmates even existed.”

Jisoo allowed a small smile to grace his lips. “Yeah, it’s not really taught during our school Soulmate classes, since it’s such a rare occurrence. But most researchers in the Soulmate branch of science agree that they do exist.”

Jeonghan’s lips pursed a bit, not looking like he fully believed Jisoo words. But if he didn’t, he didn’t say anything on the matter. Jeonghan just let out a small sigh before resigning himself to what was sure to be an onslaught of his own words being thrown back at him.

“Okay,” said Jeonghan, giving Jisoo permission to finally begin.

“Okay,” repeated Jisoo, trying to reassemble his thoughts. “I’ll start then. When you first met Seungcheol, you said you loved him right away, right?”

Jeonghan just nodded his head at that.

“Do you think,” Jisoo licked his lips, worried that he was about to overstep some bounds he didn't have a right passes with his next words, “that maybe, the reason you loved him right away was because you thought you _had_ to love your Soulmate?”

Jisoo watched as Jeonghan’s eyebrows scrunched a bit at that. The beginnings of a protest formed in Jeonghan’s mind but Jisoo continued before he could even open his mouth.

“You told me that you were surprised at how easy it was to get along with Seungcheol. That you guys had a lot of interests in common and that it was easy to talk to. Those things could be used to describe either a significant other or a really good friend. That, maybe, your instant love for him was just because society _says_ you have to have a romantic relationship with your Soulmate.”

Jisoo’s throat was starting to hurt. Whether it was from the overuse or from how many emotions had gotten stuck up in there, Jisoo would never know.

“But you said that when you met me, it was completely different. I know the circumstances behind using finding out that we are Soulmates wasn’t exactly how other people usually find out,” Jisoo trailed off a bit before rerouting his mind back to his initial thought, “but I think that the fact that we had a bit of trouble, that what you were saying about how I—I make you feel there could be something between us, that it shows that we—us—that were actually the romantic Soulmates in this equation.”

Jisoo was still having a hard time voicing himself as a stable role in Jeonghan’s life. But he wanted to be _so badly_ that he wasn’t about to pretend that he didn’t. Not during a conversation as important as this one.

“Yes, everything you’ve said is true,” answered Jeonghan, but Jisoo knew there was going to be more to it. “But like you said, the way we found each other was way different from when I found Seungcheol. We can’t say that that couldn’t be a reason why I feel so differently towards you.”

“Well, how about when you said that you don’t even feel like you and Seungcheol were dating anymore? That you don’t feel the same love for him anymore?” Jisoo didn’t like the desperate undertone to his voice, but in all honesty, he _was_ desperate. This conversation could really turn the tides on what not only he and Jeonghan viewed their relationship, but Seungcheol and Jihoon’s too. There was a lot on the line here.

There was pitying look in Jeonghan’s eyes. Jisoo knew the next words out of Jeonghan’s mouth were going to hurt.

“Yeah, but I can’t predict that sometime in the future, that might change again.”

Jeonghan had been vague. Vague in implying that his feelings for Jisoo might just be a phase and that he might be right back in Seungcheol’s arms when their initial feelings had run their course.

It was vague but Jisoo understood and it still put a lump of hurt into Jisoo’s chest. He tried not to take it too personally, he knew that Jeonghan wasn’t trying to hurt him purposefully, he was just being realistic.

Jisoo took a moment to really let Jeonghan’s words seep in. It was then that he realized he wasn’t getting anywhere. Sure, Jeonghan was at least humoring Jisoo, allowing him to tell him all his reasons why he thought Jeonghan and Seungcheol were just platonic Soulmates. But if Jisoo didn’t lay down something so big, so life changing, something Jeonghan had no choice but to listen to, Jeonghan wasn’t about to even get near the idea of actually taking into consideration Jisoo’s theory.

Jisoo swallowed hard. A thought popped into his head. A thought that could either completely prove his case, or it could ruin every careful step Jisoo had taken to get here. Hell, it could ruin _everyone_ involved if things took a turn for the worse.

But.

Jisoo’s mind was latching onto the thought harder and harder the longer he allowed it to float around in his mind. Jisoo knew he needed something _big_ . But was this _too_ big? Was this even his to tell? Probably not.

But.

How long could their hopeless charade even continue? How long was _too long_ before everything would eventually come crumbling down? Jeonghan couldn’t stay in the dark forever. And this information was so valuable, too important for Jisoo to _not_ share if he was to make his case.

Slowly, Jisoo was feeling more and more justified for the thought. He _should_ say something to Jeonghan. If anything, the longer it was drawn out, the worse the effects could be once Jeonghan became aware. Maybe it was already too late for there to be no lasting negative effects, but at least now Jisoo had a tangible reason why he should be telling Jeonghan.

It was literally the only information Jisoo had that could make his case.

Today had already been an emotional fiasco as it was, he might as well put the cherry on top anyways.

“What if I had something to tell you,” Jisoo began slowly, cautiously. Jeonghan must have been watching Jisoo intently, for his own body became rigid at Jisoo’s eerily calm words. He was able to pick up on the fact that the next thing Jisoo was going to say was something huge. “Something that might actually make you rethink yours and Seungcheol’s relationship as something different than romantic?”

Every question Jisoo asked was rhetorical and Jeonghan didn’t look anything like he was actually going to answer. Jisoo could see the bob of Jeonghan’s adam’s apple. Could see the slight tinge of fear in his mainly worried eyes.

It made Jisoo think Jeonghan had at least suspected something like this was to eventually come along.

By now, Jisoo knew he was only stalling, but he was still trying to formulate the best way to word his statement. What way could he present the facts that would be the least damaging? He wasn’t even sure if there was a way.

“How would you feel if I told you that I know that Seungcheol has found his other Soulmate?”

Jisoo’s words were spoken lightly, as if that could soften the blow of his words in any way. So soft that Jisoo could hear the sharp inhale of breath from Jeonghan the second the words had found its way off his tongue.

It only took a few seconds for Jisoo to realize that he might have just made a horrible mistake. Jisoo watched as Jeonghan’s body stiffened to the point of looking almost painful. Could see his frown curl into something darker, angrier.

But almost like a light switch, Jisoo watched as the anger seemed to melt off Jeonghan in waves. It started in his expression, which was suddenly void of all the anger Jisoo had just seen. His body was a little late in responding to the boys resolve, but slowly Jisoo watched as Jeonghan’s posture melted out of its sharp position.

It took a while, at least a few minutes, but Jeonghan finally seemed to find the words that he actually wanted to speak.

“I would say,” began Jeonghan, picking up from where Jisoo’s rhetorical question had left off as if no time had passed between the question and response, “that knowing so doesn’t hurt as badly as I thought it would.”

“I would be lying to myself if I didn’t say that I didn’t, at least on a subconscious level, know that something must have changed for Seungcheol, just like how something had changed for me. I think I’m more mad that I have to be hearing this from someone I shouldn’t be hearing it from.” Jeonghan’s words are drawn out, but clipped at the end, showing Jisoo that every last word had been carefully chosen.

Jeonghan then shrugged up one shoulder, a casual gesture that Jisoo could tell was done to try and lighten the mood. Jeonghan’s voice had even gained a little more life the next time he spoke.

“And it’s not like I didn’t already know of Seungcheol’s habit of hiding things. I really only got myself to blame.”

“That’s not true,” came Jisoo’s sudden words. Both boys looked at each other, both equally as surprised by Jisoo’s words. He wasn’t intending such a sudden outburst, but in no way did he not mean it. “You’re the last one to blame when it comes to this. I kept it a secret just as much as Seungcheol had, so I’m sorry for that.”

Jeonghan sent Jisoo a small smirk, showing that he at least appreciated what Jisoo was saying in his defense.

“Yeah, maybe. But I’m not going to hold it against you,” joked Jeonghan.

As Jisoo took in Jeonghan, he couldn’t help but realize that what had just happened in front of him was very admirable. Jisoo was no stranger to how strongly Jeonghan’s emotions could run, but to watch Jeonghan reign in what was sure to be a volcano of anger and then to go as far as to joke about the very thing he had every right to be upset about. It was on a new level of emotional maturity that Jisoo honestly didn’t think Jeonghan had in him.

Jisoo felt his chest swell up with pride in his Soulmate. Jisoo had honestly underestimated Jeonghan but was pleasantly surprised that his own small bout in selfishness hadn’t ruined everything he had built up so far in what little time he had been sitting with Jeonghan under this tree.

Which reminded him, that they had been slightly sidetracked once again. Jisoo hadn’t gotten his answer, at least not directly, on if that new information changed Jeonghan’s thoughts towards considering Jisoo’s theory. Because with that information finally laid out into the open, they both knew and understood the implications. It meant that Seungcheol, too, had someone else that he was enamored with. Someone else that Seungcheol was adamant in seeing, so much so that Jeonghan had been left behind, just like Jeonghan had done to Seungcheol.

But the idea had been planted, and Jeonghan was scootching he was over to sit next to Jisoo again now that they had finished their serious talk. At least, for now, that was enough for Jisoo.

So he smiled as Jeonghan leaned over to rest his head on Jisoo’s shoulder once again. The atmosphere was nearly a comfortable one, but still held the slight tinges of emotional static around them. Of course Jisoo could tell that Jeonghan hadn’t come to complete terms with the fact that his Soulmate had found his other one, but they both realized there was nothing they could quite do about it in this exact moment besides enjoy each other’s company.

As Jisoo stared up into the dense leaves in their tree, he heard Jeonghan speak up from his resting place.

“Do you know him? Seungcheol’s other Soulmate?”  

Jeonghan’s questions were soft and curious, no hint of malice laced in any of them. To Jisoo, it sounded like Jeonghan was genuinely curious to hear his answer.

“Yeah, he’s one of my closest friends actually.”

Jeonghan huffed out a small amused huff. “Please don’t tell me that you have a Soulmark with him too, I don’t think my weak heart could take it.”

Jisoo was so caught off guard at Jeonghan joke, so unprepared for it that he couldn’t help but allow the full bodied laugh that he emitted into the air.

“No, no, we definitely aren’t _that_ close of friends,” answered Jisoo with a small amount of mirth still playing in his voice.

Jeonghan hummed out a happy note at that.

“Could you tell me a little bit about him?” Jeonghan’s voice was tilted up, almost nostalgic in its tone.

Jisoo couldn’t find it in his heart nor a reason as to why he couldn’t at least grant Jeonghan’s small request.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say that I'm SO SORRY. I know that I've taken way too long on getting this chapter out and I can go on and on about how I just couldn't to the words to _go_. But I won't! 
> 
> And I'm sorry again if this wasn't quite the chapter all the people who are here for the JiCheol would want, but I swear this was absolutely necessary! (I would know, I wouldn't have spent so much time agonizing of this if I didn't NEED IT.) 
> 
> Thank you so much for sticking with me through this! And look at that!! The plot is FINALLY KINDA GOING FORWARD??? At least Jeonghan knows now. That's something!


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